As is custom around the holidays, I paused to give thanks the other day and thought about two special friends and a lovely lady that I met out in LA. I moved there in August of 1995, an aspiring actor with nothing but hope and a car full of stuff.

I only had a couple of contacts so I was very happy to see a friendly face in my high school drama director, Sack, who greeted me at a gas station on Franklin Blvd. He had moved to LA several years back for the same reason. I didn’t know how long he’d let me sleep on his couch so I was grateful for a place to stay temporarily. Today it still seems like such a nice gesture when we hadn’t seen each other in years. Thankfully we got along fabulously – like two lost brothers – and soon thereafter Sack offered me his place to stay indefinitely. He showed me around the Hollywood scene, helped me with my resume, headshots, and offered career advice, you name it. What a relief back then! Now that I think of it, I can even attribute my first paid acting job due to being with him one day. Thanks, man!

There were so many great times with Sack, all of which brought me closer to the meaning of carpe diem. I learned the power of giving when I saw him offer food to a homeless man even though he didn’t have much money himself (what struggling actor does?). I also learned the power of pay it forward years later when I gave a homeless man my coat and then again when another Hamilton, Ohio native moved to LA and my wife (AKA Lovely Lady) and I allowed him to stay at our place, got him a job, etc. Man, that made me feel good!

There’s nothing like the feeling you get from helping someone in need and there is nothing like today. What can we do today? Maybe a simple gesture, a smile perhaps? Maybe a helping hand? Perhaps something grander? Big or small, it all counts.

SO, thank you Sack for all of the great times, the lessons and mostly for being you! And thank you for introducing me to Amy. She was there before the Lovely Lady and is the glue to our “family”. More on Amy later…