ode to wally southern

the world became a little less happy on friday. on that day a mr. wally southern, great grandfather of a good friend of mine, passed away in manchester, uk. i believe he was 99.

about 14 months ago we drove from brighton to manchester so that my friend could meet up with his great grandfather. we were all up for it as it meant an excuse to see manchester (and a quick stop in liverpool) and an interesting experience to meet the man.

we were in for a treat. we didn't have tuesday's with morrie, we had saturday with wally.

i believe first impressions are very important and anytime you walk into a room you have a chance to make a new first impression. i remember waiting by the car round back of the building and i'll be damned if the man didn't walk out there to meet us. i think it was then that we all sensed this would be a memorable day. we proceeded to sit down, 5 of us and wally, and have a fantastic conversation.

he was utterly charming. a laughing, smiling sage with an audience of eager listeners 3 generations removed. his imparted wisdom included a recommendation that the key to life is laughter. seeing the joy his life still contained and the amount of laughter that accompanied it was all the proof i need to believe that.

the conversation was more lucid then i could have possibly expected. he had clear memories of his parents, his first girlfriend and being a soldier in ww2. recalling his favourite meal (in rome, after the death of mussonlini) still evoked a twinkle and a laugh.

wally was an errand boy. that was his first job i think and i believe was a predominant vocation for him. when asked specifically what he did, he replied quite simply 'i helped people. whatever they needed i got for them'. he helped people. that became a theme for him in his life and i think we'd all do well to live with that same mindset.

the world becomes a better place when people make it a better place. that can happen incrementally through millions of seemingly small and inconsequential acts of kindness.

i understand that now that i had a chance to meet wally southern. he was a living, breathing byproduct of helping people. for wally this meant a long and incredibly fruitful life filled with laughter and joy. in wally i saw a man who smiled at the world with genuine compassion and i will never forget that.

this was heightened all the more by the serendipitous nature of the encounter. here we all were, across an ocean, sitting in a nursing home just outside manchester. being that far away from home made the moment all the more memorable.

thank you wally. you provided me with the kind of inspiration i only hope i can pass on to others.

happy days wally, happy days.