Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

“Thank you for the butter and the prayers…”

We were out with family at an event Christmas Day when my phone alerted me someone had entered our condo. I got a little nervous but Anne was not available to speak to at the moment, so I waited, anxiously, for the right time to understand if she knew something I didn’t. I forgot about it until we got home.

We returned from the event and she clarified our neighbors across the hall had returned from a trip, didn’t have a critical cookie making ingredient so Anne gave the code to get in and directed them to the right spot in the fridge. When we got home, there were some chocolate chip cookies as a thank you with a note, some of it shared above.

Our neighbor across the hall is fighting cancer. Her husband posts on caring bridge, we follow, sometimes comment online and sometimes see them in passing, in the elevator or walking the dog. They are sweet people, going through a hard time, and doing it with the utmost grace and courage.

We are reminded daily of the hard things; challenges, pain, brokenness. How we react to the issues we must face is the essence. How we treat others as they face hard things  is the opportunity for civility, neighborly, humanity.

As you go out into the world today, this week and this new year of 2026, be gentle. Everyone is fighting a battle of some kind.

Eric