A Beautiful Day

On Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend, I was sitting in our family room reading when I was struck by the thought, “What a beautiful day!”

The full panorama of the back yard was in Spring bloom. Blossoms on the Orange trees, new leaves on the Jacarandas, and songbirds fliting from branch to branch.

At that moment it occurred to me that there was nothing in my life that I had to do.   Emphasis on the verb HAD.

I have spent my entire life striving. Striving to socialize (kindergarten was traumatic), trying to keep quiet in boring classes, and always striving to excel in every endeavor.  I fashioned the fabric of my career from the threads of education, desire, and necessity. It has been a roller coaster ride.

I founded my company ACF Property Management, Inc. on March 1, 1968, and we have been in business every day since, though it has been years since I have worked on Saturday or, heaven forbid, on a Sunday. We currently manage more than forty retail shopping centers throughout the United States.  My biggest delight at the office is working with an experienced, talented, and dedicated staff.

And what has my time, education, and hard work created?

Very simply: this moment — the culmination of 85 years of my past, somehow crystallized into a perfect moment of enjoying the beauty of my back yard, untethered from either expectation or obligation.

It’s a pleasure for me to share this moment with you, along with my wish that both our lives are sparked and sparkled with hours of striving, followed by many more hours of enjoying the beauty that is within and all about us today, and every day.

There is beauty in a blade of grass.

Love,

Alan