A Giant Prepares to Depart...

                Matt      Photo by M Barrett Miller

Rather than having a memorial, after the inevitable, Matt Barrett agreed to have a celebration instead.
It was held last night in the parish hall at St Joseph's, in Seattle.
The end is near for Matt.

Watch his long time friend Brooke (video) telling one tale, of many, about how Matt has made the very best of a lousy hand.

See the following article sharing some background information on Matt.

I've Had a Great Run.

 Matt has been a courageous role model for so many over the years. He was recently recognized by Invisible Disabilities.org for his generosity of spirit, and his dedication, to reaching out to the sick, lonely,  homeless and others in need of a kind word.

Here's a little story.

Back when Matt was hired by the circus one of his jobs required he lead a grizzly out of the arena when the trainer gave him the high sign. This all went very smoothly until one day when the trainer got ill towards the end of the performance. What Matt didn't know was the trainer always gave "Bruno" a couple of peanuts before turning and handing the lead to Matt. Well, the assistant trainer, worried about the other two bears gave Matt the lead line to take Bruno out. He either didn't know about the peanuts, or forgot due to the anxiety of the moment.

Bruno didn't want to move.
Matt gently pulled on him.
Bruno struck out leaving Matt's left ear dangling by a thread of flesh.
When the dust settled, and the bears and Matt were attended to, he was told that policy was that any animal that "attacked" an employee would have to be put down.
Matt sat there for a moment before replying, "Then I quit. If I don't work here there is no reason to punish Bruno for dong what comes naturally to a bear."
Bruno lived.
Matt went on to new adventures.

We'll all miss you Matt.

Safe journey.

M Barrett Miller
Let Kids Be Kids, Inc. 

A Good Neighbor

Photo by M Barrett Miller

A good neighbor.

The other morning I couldn’t help but hear an elderly man, who was sitting next to me at Starbucks, lament that courtesy, respect and service were gone in this country.
He was speaking loudly enough to draw in patrons from half way across the room who were more than happy to shake their collective heads in wonder to what he was carrying on about.
Since I was unintentionally roped into the conversation I countered his whinging by sharing the following with him, after determining that he was a neighborhood resident and knew the service station I was going to tell him about-

I began my tale with…
A few weeks ago I was driving north on 35^th Avenue NE (Seattle). When I crossed 125^th the pickup truck that had turned on to 125^th in front of me dropped most of his higgledy piggledy load on to the street right in front of me. The nearness of his trespass, and oncoming traffic, forced me to drive right through the mess.
At first it seemed I was delivered unscathed.
A block or so later the thump under my front left told me life was not going to remain so simple.
I turned around and went back to where the fella was loading his treasures back into his truck. I walked across the street and told him I had found a four-inch rod sticking out of my tire. My thought at that moment was to enlist his help and hit him up for the price of a new Michelin.
Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to understand and kept shaking his head in a “who me” kind of way.
I knew this was going nowhere so I crossed back to my car to begin the jacking up and changing the tire nightmare.

I’ve had minor servicing and assistance from Bill Waters, the owner of the Spirit Service station on 35^th Ave NE & NE 95^th in the past, so I called him to see if he would have a tire I could buy when I finished changing my tire.
I was amazed by his response. “I’ll close the station and come down there and help you with the tire. You can then drive up here in an hour or so and we’ll put on the new one.”
Wow!
He was there in a heartbeat.
As only a professional can manage, he had my car ready to roll on the mini tire within minutes.
As promised, I rolled out of his station two hours later on a brand new tire.

The old digger was about to reply to my little story when I went in for the kill.
I told him I was at the Spirit station one Sunday evening. When I rolled into my aisle I saw a little old lady standing staring at her designated pump in the most lost of ways. I could tell she was way out of her comfort zone and asked her if I could help. She told me she always came into Bill’s station, as he always had someone there to help her buy gas. She was a bit embarrassed that she hadn’t bought her gas when the station was open or ever learned how to pump her own gas.
I thought of my mother and how she would have been totally lost when most stations went to self-serve.
After a few laughs she was on her way with a full tank.
I recall thinking at the time that it was a real shame that the kind of service some of us had experienced as we grew up was disappearing.

When Bill came to my rescue he renewed my faith.

Bill’s station may be pennies more expensive but you’re getting way more for your dollars than you’ll ever get at the kiosk only joints.

Oh, the old boy at Starbucks said he’d buy a tank at the Spirit gas station.
Hope he does-

Thanks Bill.

M Barrett Miller
Let Kids Be Kids, Inc.
http://www.letkidsbekids.org