Memory Banks

There are lots of “How to invest...” questions for any good plan to answer. On the other side of those tables, we have enjoyed learning that there are two answers that last longer and make a spectacular plan.

WHO you are with matters the most, of anything.

Find a bigger purpose than working and saving.

I’d like to honor a guy named Al, in case he can inspire you like he did all of us at Freedom Day Solutions. He changed my mind as much as anybody ever has. I met him two decades ago, with a prickly demeanor and some of the hardest personality edges I’ve worked for. He was difficult to get to know at first, but there was an unmistakable sparkle in his eye that intrigued me. I assumed the sparkle was just a reflection of his wife Marilyn, always in his eye, because she absolutely glows non-stop and is bursting with warm energy.

Soon after getting married in 1956, they were out shopping one day. She found a painting she wanted to buy and told him, “That would make me happy to look at.” Motivated by a budget-friendly solution, he answered, “Well...I could probably do that just as well.” His only background in art was winning a contest in first grade with a drawing of a farmer getting vegetables. The prize was art class. He rode his bike with great anticipation and arrived right on time. But the teacher never showed up. That was his only art class.

Next Seasons

It wasn’t until three decades later that he picked up a brush and tried a sunset to relieve stress, and to see if he could paint something that would make her happy to look at. He did. They ended up converting a patio into his art studio where he poured hours every day into amazing paintings of all sizes.

He dates each one, so he can look back to see if he is getting better. He humbly shared with me after turning 90, “A true artist does not do that.” But an engineer turned artist still wanted to measure his improvement.

His time in the United States Air Force led Al, a proud veteran, to a career as an aerospace engineer for almost half a century. But when he retired, he was just getting started on a bigger purpose with his wing-woman at his side for their next season of life.

Multiplying a Purpose

They send messages of gratitude on tiny, beautifully painted notecards, like this one that sits on my desk celebrating the anniversary of working on their Freedom Day Plan together in 2003.

He makes larger paintings to bring as gifts to many, many others. “We used to bring flowers or candy to people we’d visit in hospitals, but they’d die or get eaten,” he says. “So, one day we brought a painting I’d done. It’s fun to bring something to somebody in the hospital; if it is a good or bad painting it doesn’t make a difference.”

They are good. Here is one of my favorites. One day he asked me, “How many holdings do we have in our mailbox money account Ryan? You know I never look, because I’m too busy.” A month later, I learned in awe why he asked.

He explained to me that countless times, artwork was his way of expressing gratitude for his amazing life. Thanks to many people like Al, I have learned that making memory bank deposits in others is a way of multiplying a purpose that then lasts much longer than any of us.

Memory Banks

It was his favorite passion project of all, that he and Marilyn worked on for many years, that brought me to full blubbering tears. The example below hangs alone on a wall in our building.

Lifelong volunteers, Al and Marilyn had an idea to help the caregivers of dementia patients. They made a place for the patients to gather on Saturdays, allowing the caregivers to take their only break from intense service all week. Knowing art can be a memory-stimulating activity, he began tracing images and teaching the patients how to paint them.

Dozens of patients contribute at different times to each painting. This one is on a 36x36 canvas, signed on the back by a long list of amateur artists Al taught. It’s hard not to get choked up thinking about how many other grins might have been unlocked here!

Al and Marilyn are among the many incredible examples of our GRINdex formula that we love to be very purposeful about in a Freedom Day Plan.

We start by subtracting worries from time, your most precious asset.

Then you can afford to divide more of that time into your real purpose and ability to give to others.

This starts the ultimate compounding investment - relationships.

That timeless combination results in more memory bank deposits into countless other people that can truly last forever.

                        Now you know another reason I love this work,

                        Ryan