Tag Archives: handwritten

Day 27: Nicky

Posted on January 27, 2015 | Leave a comment

I asked the Twitter world yesterday who I should write to today and got a response back from a friend and former coworker in Oklahoma City who thought his son would appreciate a letter.

Screen Shot 2015-01-26 at 10.50.45 PM

I love the fact that he checks the mailbox every day – I used to do the same thing. I remember how excited I’d get when I got a letter in the mail which usually only happened around my birthday or the holidays.

I hope he enjoys getting the letter and I look forward to hearing back from him!

YoL-3-2

Dear Nicky,

I am a friend of your father’s and he told me that you like to receive mail – me too! I like to send and receive handwritten letters. In fact, I have made a promise to send a handwritten letter to someone every day this year. You are the 27th person that I have written to!

YoL-4-2I wrote to another boy in Oklahoma – his name is Cade and he lives in Yukon. He wrote a letter to every NFL team. I thought that was pretty cool.

I heard that you are in kindergarten. Who is your teacher? What is your favorite part about school? Do you like sports? I bet you like OSU – I think your mom and dad both went to school there. Do you have any brothers or sisters?

I live in Washington, DC. It’s an amazing city full of historic monuments and important buildings like the White House where the president lives and also the Capitol where the congress meets. Have you been here? If not, maybe your parents will bring you some time.

I have to go now. I hope that you will write me back.

Your friend,
Reed

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Day 26: Aunt Sue

Posted on January 26, 2015 | Leave a comment

My Aunt Sue was the recipient of my letter on Day 10 – it was her birthday. As I mentioned then she’s struggled over the past year with several health problems and her memory has gotten much worse. Today I called her to see how she was doing and she sounded great – just like she used to. In fact, she said herself that she felt like parts of her memory were slowly coming back to her.

She lives in an assisted living center and is supposed to go to meals in the dining room, but since she’s been there she’s only been down to the dining room probably a dozen times. She said today that she has started going – and didn’t know why she hasn’t been going. I’m cautiously optimistic about these developments. Anyway, it was wonderful to have the old Aunt Sue back and share those special moments with her today. I hope that continues.

YoL-2-2

Dear Aunt Sue,

YoL-7It was so good to talk to you today. You sounded so good. I’m happy that you are getting out of your apartment more, eating in the dining room and meeting others. Getting out and being more active will surely help you feel better.

Ryan and I are planning to come down to TN the last weekend in February – we’re both looking forward to it!

I’ll call you this weekend.

Love you,
YKW [My Aunt Sue used to always sign her letters to me “YKW” for You Know Who]

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Sunday Letters: Steve Prefontaine to his H.S. track coach

Posted on January 25, 2015 | 2 comments
prefontaine

totalprosports.com

Today Steve Prefontaine would have turned 64 years old.

Known for his speed, he hardly looked like someone who once held seven track records. A bushy mustache surrounded by locks of flowing hair, Prefontaine – or Pre as he was known as – started a running revolution in the United States in the 1970s.

Pre chose to attend the University of Oregon to train under coach Bill Bowerman (who in 1964 founded Blue Ribbon Sports, later known as Nike). He never lost a collegiate (NCAA) race at 3 miles/5,000 meters or 6 miles/10,000 meters. In fact he only lost three races during his entire collegiate career – all in the mile.

Who knows what other records he would have gone on to break? Steve Prefontaine died in a car crash early in the morning of May 30, 1975. He was only 24.

The letter below is from Pre to his high school track coach, Walt McClure, 10 weeks before his death.

Photo: flickr.com/photos/thehappyrower/

Photo: flickr.com/photos/thehappyrower/

 

Hello,

I’m still in Denver training extremely hard with Frank Shorter and a few other guys I’ve met around here. I’m running almost twenty miles daily at altitude and I can feel myself getting stronger by the day. My attitude is the best it’s been in years and I think I’m beginning to get my old killer instinct back.

Now for the information you need to know. It should be any day now that the AAU [Amature Athletic Union] comes through with those permits. Ive got the Oregon AAU on my side now and Hal Heller is working with me. The press info should also be here soon and I’ll call you as soon as it arrives.

If you want a story for the papers have them call me at 303-xxx-xxxx in the early mornings or around five in the afternoons. I think a good story about my serious training and getting ready for the Finn would be good. I’ve decided to train for 76 [Olympics] and your [sic] among the first to know. Please don’t let it get around yet since I’m not ready for the pressure. This should be a great year for me since I want to destroy my competition.

I’ll close for the moment.

Sincerely,
Steve

Prefontaine never earned a medal in Olympic competition, but he was part of one of the most exciting finishes in all of racing. The video below shows the last five minutes of the 5,000 meters in the ’72 Munich games – it’s a nail-biter and Pre’s aggressive style gives it dramatic flare.

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Day 24: Tom

Posted on January 25, 2015 | Leave a comment

Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves. ~ Steve Jobs

I tried to stealthily snap this photo of Chris hard at work.

I tried to stealthily snap this photo of Chris hard at work.

Customer experience has probably never been as important as it is now. With online marketplaces commoditizing the vast majority of products and services, it’s the customer’s experience – whether face to face or online – that dictates whether they will publicly praise or shame you.

I had some items to ship on Friday and headed to FedEx. They were awkwardly shaped, so I needed to get them boxed up. I’m terrible at these kind of tasks, thankfully Chris, the FedEx team member that helped me, was awesome. It was refreshing to see a young person take his job, and more importantly his responsibility, seriously. I decided to drop his boss a note.

It’s funny – I called back hours later to get the name of the manager and Chris answered – he’d been there all day at that point and still sounded as polite and professional as he did at 9am. I didn’t tell him I was writing this letter to his boss…I just asked for the manager’s name.

Day 24 Tom-2

Tom,

Just a note to tell you how impressed I was with a member of your team. I stopped in on Friday with two large items that needed boxed up and shipped and a young man named Day 24 TomChris did a fantastic job – from making sure that I got the right kind of boxes to guiding me through my shipment options. He took care of everything. His badge said that he was a trainee – I’m sure he’ll be moving up in no time. Please let him know that his professionalism and attention to customer service made an impression on me.

Keep up the good work,
Reed Sandridge

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Day 23: Jack

Posted on January 24, 2015 | Leave a comment


On Thursday I had the tremendous pleasure of visiting the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, FL. It’s an amazing place focused on promoting conservation of Florida’s coastal ecosystems with a special focus on threatened and endangered sea turtles. They have an onsite hospital there too – which I got to see in action. I got to meet Jack Lighton, the President and CEO, who gave us a very special tour of the operations.

Day 23 JackThis is Sven – and this little guy, well he’s not that little actually, was attacked by a shark and has some bad wounds on his back right side. He was being treated by Dr. Charlie and others when we were there, so I got a behind the scenes look at them working on Sven. They were applying natural honey to his wounds – believe it or not honey works as a natural healing agent. Later they used cold laser therapy to expedite the healing. Despite being sedated, Sven gave the staff some work keeping him still during the procedure.

Jack was extremely gracious with his time. He showed me and my colleague Barney around the center and shared with us some of the terrific work they’re involved with. In the grand scheme of things it’s not much, but I wanted to send them a small donation to help them carry on the important work they do.

 

Day 23 Jack-6

Jack,

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule yesterday to meet with Barney and me. We were both very impressed – not only with your amazing work at the hospital nursing turtles back to health but also the broader work that you are engaging in throughout the region. Your passion for your work shines when you tell the story of the Loggerhead Marlinelife Center.

I look forward to exploring ways we can work together.

Good luck with your fundraiser next week – I’m sure it will be a tremendous success!

Sincerely,
Reed Sandridge

I saw this little fellow doing yoga - he's got his hind legs crossed!

I saw this little fellow doing yoga.

 

Check out the crossed legs!

Check out the crossed legs!

 

 

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