Sitting in quarantine this past week in Taipei, Taiwan offered lots of time to think and reflect. Getting through the multiple quarantine’s I have experienced includes a regimen of eating, exercise, reading, work, television, and catching up with various people. Staying busy is the recipe to making the time pass quickly.  While I was in quarantine I had a lot of time to catch up on current events.

A Helping Hand

So, for today’s Monday Morning Mojo, I want to celebrate the humanitarian response provided by the residents of Martha’s Vineyard to the immigrants who were sent there earlier in the month.  While I know many of the people in this MMM community have different views on US immigration policies and how to handle these, I found the act of using immigrants as a pawn to make a political statement troubling. Yet, I loved the response coming from Martha’s Vineyard on how someone should be treated. The United States is a nation built by immigrants, and while I am not naïve that there are modern-day problems at our borders, I just feel like there are better ways to handle this. Sharing one story coming out of Martha’s Vineyard on what transpired last week.

A Touch Of Modesty

In the area of people who help others out without an agenda, while remaining modest, a story about Henry Darby, a high school principal in a low-income district caught my attention this past week. Darby was known to be a very caring and attentive principal, working to help his students get an education on a modest budget for the school he represented. However, to supplement income he needed to perform his role as a principal, he took on a second job at a Walmart in an adjacent town working the midnight shift.  The money he earned in this job he used to support many of the students in need at the school.  After seeing this story, it is central to the spirit of the Monday Morning Mojo, and I felt it was something many of you would enjoy.

And Majesty

The bigger story this past week was the passing of Queen Elizabeth.  Her funeral was a fantastic tribute to someone who worked tirelessly to make the world a better place. While there were many stories that surfaced about the kind of person she was, this Reuters article below I felt was worthy of a wider read.

LONDON, Sept 8, 2022 (Reuters) – The story of how Queen Elizabeth handled an encounter with an American hiker who did not recognise her, recounted by a former bodyguard who was with her that day, revealed the fun-loving side of her personality that the public rarely saw.

She died on Thursday aged 96 after more than 70 years on the throne.

The monarch was out in the hills near her Scottish castle at Balmoral when two U.S. tourists on a walking holiday approached and one of them engaged her in conversation, said former royal protection officer Richard Griffin, known as Dick.

The hiker asked the queen where she lived, so she said London, adding that she had a holiday home just over the hill and had been visiting the area for more than 80 years since she as a little girl. She did not say she was referring to Balmoral.

Aware that the castle was in the vicinity, the hiker then asked her if she had ever met the queen, Griffin said.

“Quick as a flash she said: ‘I haven’t, but Dick here meets her regularly’,” Griffin recounted on Sky News during celebrations of Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne earlier this year.

The hiker than asked Griffin what the monarch was like in person.

“Because I was with her a long time and I knew I could pull her leg (tease her), I said ‘oh, she can be very cantankerous at times, but she’s got a lovely sense of humour’,” Griffin said.

Delighted, the hiker then put his arm around Griffin’s shoulder and asked if he could have a picture of the two of them together.

“Before I could see what was happening, he gets his camera and gives it to the queen and says ‘can you take a picture of us?'”

The queen obliged, and then Griffin took the camera and took a picture of her with the pair of hikers.

Later, Griffin said, the queen told him: “I’d love to be a fly on the wall when he shows those photographs to friends in America and hopefully someone tells him who I am.”

Tribute To A Champion

 Finally, amongst the most modest of sports champions I have witnessed over the past two decades has been Roger Federer, the tennis great who announced his retirement last week. For those tennis enthusiasts, I am sharing this video on 10 Reasons to Love Roger Federer if you have the time

That’s it for now. To everyone celebrating the Jewish New Year, L’Shana Tova friends. Have a great week everyone.