Being 100% There

Some good food for thought by Pamela Gorman in a tribute to a friend:

... Have you ever been so fortunate to cross paths with a person who is completely “there” when you are with them? So many of us are busy with our mind elsewhere. Some of you even have the audacity to stop midsentence to join a different conversation on your electronic gadgetry (you know who you are). But, there ARE those rare individuals who have an uncanny ability to stop their minds from wandering and really just be there with you.

Christopher Smith was one of those rare birds. ... He looked me in the eye and we talked about real stuff in the midst of whatever chaos we found ourselves in. When I would arrive home from one of the various political events and someone would ask who was there, the name “Christopher Smith” would come first to mind. It wasn’t until he died a week ago that I realized he may have often been the only one in the room who was 100% “there.” ...