2001-12-16 - 12:20 p.m.
We hear a lot about people who run into buildings to save people in fires and others with physical courage. We hear far less about those who display emotional courage, who put their dreams and sometimes their lives on hold for a greater good. We watch �It�s a Wonderful Life� and cheer when George Bailey�s neighbors save him from ruin at the end. We use the movie as an illustration that an ordinary man can make a difference. But how many of us are willing to be George Bailey, to give up our honeymoon to keep the bank open, or to stay in town and run the business so our brother can fulfill all of his dreams? I know a real-life George Bailey who has put his own dreams on hold not for his brother but for his friend and partner. It is unlikely that the whole town ever will come out to save him but then this isn�t Bedford Falls, it�s a medium-sized rust belt city. Most of the town probably doesn�t know him. He�s not saving the town, just one small piece of it. This George (although his name isn�t really George) hit middle age and decided he needed a change. He decided to ratchet down his legal business and buy a shop where he could do woodworking. He wanted less of papers and the pressures of trials and more of the simpler joys of lathes and the beauty of fine wood. He figured out a business plan and bought a building. He told his partner what he was doing and moved to living out his dream and then.... And then his partner needed him, really needed him. His partner was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. His partner had a wife who had planned to help fill George�s role when he left and two small children. But if George stepped out, the business would go and his partner�s family would suffer tremendously. So George stayed. He still had to pay for his new building. He still wanted to work with wood. He still wanted less stress but all of that was relatively unimportant. He just quietly did what needed doing and few people knew what George was giving up because most of them didn�t know George�s dreams or plans. There was no newspaper story. There are no children collecting for him and his firm. There will be no parties or formal recognition. There are just the day-to-day tasks he had hoped to escape. I can�t even tell George how much I admire what he is doing. I don�t know George really well but I know him well enough to know that the attention would embarrass him. But I have done something I suspect would mean more to him: I have spoken of my admiration to my children. Thank you, George Bailey.
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