On this Christmas Day…not to mention it’s been a few weeks since I’ve written something other than my weekly articles…let me share with you the story of Mr. Ullery.
Who is Mr. Ullery? He was my mother’s former boss at the NYS Education Department. I believe she was still his secretary when I was born in 1978.
He gave me a personalized rocking chair when I was about 3 or 4 years old, a chair I still have in my living room today, even though it’s a little beat up.
Even after my mom passed away in 2000, I would still get a Christmas card from him and his wife, with a typed letter that had to be printed out on the same press schools used to print out worksheets. Even after his first and second wives both passed away, he would still send his annual letter of the places he has been and how the family was doing.
This year, I once again received a card and letter from Mr. Ullery, from his home in Ohio.
The biggest news he shared? He hit 90 this year. And what did he do? Everything.
He went to the Rose Parade in Pasadena. He took a bus to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and Scottsdale. He took a Caribbean cruise. He even took a trip to Normandy, where he visited the same mudfield he visited as a member of the Army band back in 1947, just after the completion of World War II.
He plays in his town’s Community Band and Symphony Orchestra, and sings in his church choir.
He grants scholarships to music students at a high school where his father founded the band program, and traveled to Lake Placid to see 9 of those students participate in a local music festival.
Seriously, this man has a fuller social life than I do! He went to France, the Caribbean, out west…and the furthest I traveled was to Allentown for AHL All Stars.
So why am I sharing his story with you?
As I am approaching a birthday milestone myself in 2018…I see what he has accomplished in his life, even in the last few years at his age, and it gives me motivation. I would love to be able to do half of the things Mr. Ullery has done, especially later in life.
Basically, I’m learning a life lesson from Mr. Ullery that I’m passing along to you this holiday season…to live life to the fullest, to see and experience as much as possible.
I plan on writing a letter back to him this week…and I may just tell him that.
Thoughts Inside The Box 