Milestones

Dear blogees: It’s that time of year, graduations, weddings, award dinners, reunions. From whence we came…

I’m lucky enough to be enjoying three amazing such things this season. First, a charity on whose board I have served for over 15 years, Youth Renewal Fund (www.youthrenewalfund.org), celebrated its 18th anniversary with an amazing dinner fundraiser at the NY Museum of Natural History. For you non-Jews, anything 18 is a meaningful number, so that was quite a feat, and we raised $1.3 million in one night.

Second, I’m here at the University of Pennsylvania this weekend celebrating my 25th college reunion. I’m on campus often as I am Chair Emeritus of the Wharton School’s worldwide alumni association board, but this is a special weekend and many old friends are gathering for a great time. Having also attended law school at Penn, I have incredible memories of a very special time in my life, that my daughter, 17, will soon embark upon.

Which brings me to the third, but actually best, great thing. My daughter Sammi, who among other things in her spare time in high school runs her own charity, Kidzz4Kidzz, Inc. (www.kidzz4kidzz.org), had a special honor this week. Back in 5th grade, she received a special award as the most outstanding kid in her elementary school orchestra. She was presented the award by the then-11th grader who had won the award herself six years earlier. At the time we laughed at the notion of Sammi coming back in six years, and how far away that was. This week she came back, now the 11th grader, speech in hand (which she did not even use), to present the award to a 5th grader. She was beautiful and was wonderfully articulate, speaking from the heart about what music means to her and how it can bring people together. My wife and I (and her five-year old brother) are so proud of her we could just burst.

As in some prior posts, I am clearly off the RM message today. But the purpose, I suppose, is to remember, as we rush and do deals and run around the country, what’s really important. Luckily I get to love not only what I do, but what I do when I’m not doing what I do. Great week to all.

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