Reminders...

The older I get, the more it seems I surround myself with reminders.  Depending on where I am, those reminders can be Post-It notes, things stuck on the fridge with magnets, scraps of paper with unintelligible notes scribbled on them sitting on my desk, etc. But those are not the type of reminders I was thinking of...

This is the coffee mug I use at work.  While it may seem odd that a UCF employee (and alum) would use a University of Florida-related coffee cup, this is (you guessed it) a reminder.  For nearly 12 of the 15 years (so far) I have worked for UCF, I was in the Career Services department.  Since career services departments are not football teams, all 10 state University career centers enjoyed a collaborative, non-competitive relationship. There was a time, several years ago, when we helped the UF Career Center setup their recruitment management software.  It was on that visit to Gainesville when I got this coffee cup.

Okay, blah, blah, blah work, blah blah blah.  What's my point?  Well, this coffee cup from the UF Career Center was given to me by Dr. Wayne Wallace, their director. At the time I took it home, tossed it in the cabinet with the dozen or so other coffee mugs and didn't think much of it. A few years later (which, coincidentally was a few years ago), Wayne passed away after a very brief illness. When I heard of his passing, I dug out the coffee cup and brewed a cup. Turned out that the coffee tasted exactly the same as every other cup of coffee in every other coffee mug, but I enjoyed that cup just a little more.  So, to make a long story even longer, I brought the cup in to use at work. Now, every day I have a cup of coffee and a reminder of a respected colleague who is no longer here.  And, just like the phenomenon that happened at home, I enjoy each cup just a little bit more than if it were in one of the other mugs.

No real point to make today, other than to perhaps suggest that you surround yourself with things that make you smile or mean something to you.  The world can be a dark place sometimes, and things like this can add a little bit of light when it's needed.