Thankful

This is my favorite tombstone. It can be found at a small graveyard on Gorwin Street in Holliston, Massachusetts.

It's my favorite, not because it is well preserved or beautiful. Not because it has a wise parting message for those still living. It is my favorite simply for one reason: the first name of the deceased.

This is the tombstone of Thankful Watkins, who died March 18, 1811, at the age of 71. Thankful is the sweetest name I've ever heard.

I did a little research tonight and found that she was the daughter of Henry Morse and Sarah Kebbe Morse, which created a pleasant connection to myself, living, as I do, on a street that bears her given surname. She married Andrew Watkins in 1756 at the age of 16, and became Thankful Watkins.

Changing Directions

I originally started this blog as a resource for entrepreneurs and investors. But after my second post, I moved my writing on that topic to a new blog directly linked with my company's website. This site sat fallow for over a year, but I have decided to revitalize it and take it in another direction.

I am a fan of random walks. When I was growing up, my family and I used to take "penny walks." The rules were that you started walking and when you got to a corner, you flipped a penny, and if it landed heads, you went right, and tails, you went left. This meant that you never knew where you were going or who you would meet.

While I don't flip a penny anymore, when I have free time, I like to take a meandering, directionless walk. I have nothing against a brisk, purposeful walk, but my preference is to mozy. If I mozy, then I have the freedom to strike up a conversation with anyone I meet along the way, or turn a stone to see if the newts are back in the spring. And while I might be giving up something on the exercise front, I gain a lot more from the experience.

Yesterday, I saw four Eastern Bluebirds.