Do Good Things

My father, Roger Hellwinckel’s, dying words to me were ‘Do good things’. He couldn’t talk anymore and had been in and out of consciousness, but these words were important enough for him to sit up and gesture for pencil and paper. He wrote them down, then satisfied, went back to sleep. He didn’t say any other thing to me before he died a couple of days later.

I am remembering these words more now in these COVID times, and I’m trying to follow the advice. There is a draw to just sit back and watch this all happen; tune in and see what the argument or tragedy of the day is, and wait for it all to be resolved by someone else. After all, we as individuals can’t solve something so big, right?

But it feels good to take small actions; It could be asking a neighbor if they want something from the store, or saving a little rabbit from the lawnmower blades, or putting in a garden, or telling my child how special he is, or calling an old friend, or making a little dam to keep the tadpoles alive.

These long days at home I like to imagine what kind of world would be a great world. For me, a great world would have rich beautiful soil available within reach of everyone wanting to garden, so I’m helping get compost to people. It takes the heaviness off of things. I feel lighter. I advise everyone to follow Roger’s advice. Do Good Things.