Every year I would ask Bob to serve on the Election Committee of the WSBA World Peace Through Law Section, and every year he said yes. He was a busy guy but he always made time.
Until he didn't.
In the spring of 2015, Bob said that he would be dead in three months, and therefore unable to help me this time.
What do you say to that? I had no idea.
Bob laughed. It's ok, he said. Over ten years ago I was given a terminal diagnosis, so I'm ok. He said, it made me realize that I didn’t want to fall over dead at my desk. I wanted to live life fully.
Bob had been volunteering with an organization called RESULTS that was dedicated to reducing the number of deaths from preventable childhood disease. Freed by impending death, he quit his job and devoted his considerable negotiation and litigation skills to this cause.
I asked if he'd like to share his story to an audience, to pass on his philosophy and what he had learned.
He agreed, I found a friend of his to interview him, and the program was a hit.
Ever notice how interview sets often have something like a plant for an alternative visual focus? Bob's a big UW fan so we got the purple and gold tulips you see here.
After the show, Bob left me the tulips for my garden. Every year they remind me to live life fully.
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