Remembering Pamela Krasney, social change agent, HIV/AIDS champion, ardent criminal justice and anti-death penalty advocate, colleague at Dalai Lama Fellows and friend, whose strategy when facing the most complex of situations was simple. “Just make friends.” She made friends all over the world. She met people with ease and humor, whether it was a dignitary or a death row inmate of San Quentin.
Here’s to keeping these words she shared with us on her last holiday card alive.
“It all matters. That someone turns out the lamp, picks up the wind blown wrapper, says hello to the invalid, pays at the unattended lot, listens to the repeated tale, folds the abandoned laundry, plays the game fairly, tells the story honestly, acknowledges help, gives credit, says good night, resists temptation, wipes the counter, waits at the yellow, makes the bed, tips the maid, remembers the illness, congratulates that victor, accepts the consequences, takes a stand, steps up, offers a hand, goes first, goes last, chooses the small portion, teaches the child, tends to the dying, comforts the grieving, removes the splinter, wipes the tear, directs the lost, touches the lonely, is the whole thing.”
This quote is from the novel We Are Called To Rise by Laura McBride.