My father Jeremy passed of a heart attack this Summer.  He 'went out like a bolt' as he had always said he wanted to go.  Telling of the way he lived his life he passed just minutes after mowing his and a neighbor's lawn.  I've been thinking about him a lot today.  In reflecting on him and missing him (on a snow day when he would have built me an igloo as an eight year old boy before helping to shovel neighbor's out) I realize that the way he passed represents everything good that I like in people.

My father bent over backwards to help a neighbor out for even the smallest thing.  When he live in Westville with my mom and when he lived alone on the water in Branford, CT. Whenever there was a neighborhood issue he was there to help.  During Hurricane Irene he brought sump pumps and back-up generators from his shop to rescue his neighbors' homes from flooding. His neighbors describe the scene of him quickly moving from home to home assisting neighbors and giving direction to other panicked neighbors.  He led my cubscouts troop when I was a kid and my sister's t-ball team. My father had a way of deeply and passionately attaching himself to the community where he put down roots.  He was always to help and he was always there for a conversation because that's what made him happy.

I've been watching folks throughout the largest blizzard I've ever seen lend a hand to each other and it continues to touch me.  I've never quite been able to pin down the root of my passion for what we do at SeeClickFix but today it is clear to me.

I may joke that it was too much Mr Roger's neighborhood that made me the way me the way I am but it would be a lie. It was dad and I there could never be too much of that.

I'm going to help some folks out today for my dad.  You should too.