Do Good Things

I know that many of you have heard this before, but I thought I would let others in on the story of my mantra/motto “Do Good Things”.

Jay and I were friends in high school long before we dated. He was my best male friend, the one that you tell secrets to, trying to get some understanding of the mind of the opposite sex. He was also my “grounding rod”, he tried his best to keep me focused on doing what was right. Once high school was over, we went our separate ways into the world. Thirteen years later, at the prompting of my female best friend from high school, I searched to internet to find Jay again (if you know the right words to search you can find almost anything, thank you Google). I found him and we talked constantly and fell in love with each other’s minds since we were separated by about 700 miles. One thing leads to another, He moved to Texas, we got married and later he Joined the military. We said, “I love you” often and “I appreciate you” even more often but every time we parted ways, he would tell me “Do Good Things”. Sometimes we would preface with “Love you,” or end with “my Love” but always “Do Good Things”. It was our way to send the other off into the world with the reminder that we were together in all things and together we could do good things in the world. Since his death, I have used “Do Good Things” as my personal Mantra/Motto. I use it as a reminder of him, his love and that he had faith in me. I was given the precious gift of time with him after we found out that he was “terminal” that many do not get. During that time, we had many difficult discussions about my future without him. We talked bout me wanting to advocate for Active Duty, Veterans and their family and survivors. He supported my mission. Every morning I wake up and mentally replay his voice saying, “Do Good Things, my Love” and again anytime I think how easy it would be to walk away from my mission and find a normal well paying, less emotional, less frustrating career.