Legacy and Instant Gratification in Balance

JACK
Much of it is common knowledge, but there are several roads that I have traveled that I think make for a very fulfilling and happy life. I have had a heartwarming influence on a number of younger people, and their success makes me feel good. I have a feeling that some of my concepts should be spread to a wider audience. I really do not crave fame or notoriety, but I don’t dislike it either.

HILLARY
So what is it about leaving your mark on a place, or a person, that satisfies you?

JACK
More than ever, I realize that at the end of life there is nothing more that you can say. By writing, advising, and coaching, my ideas will live on. The satisfaction of committing acts of philanthropy is primarily in the results that are achieved. In most cases I have put my own stamp on it, with conception, execution and financing. I have for the past several years shared this with my wife, Julie, who has applied impeccable taste and enormous empathy for people. Why do we attach our name to it? Perhaps, because it makes us proud and gives us a feeling of perpetuation.

HILLARY
You like the idea that once you are gone that your name is still part of the community?

JACK
Absolutely.

HILLARY
You also mentioned pride. Is it vanity?

JACK
I’m sure there is some ego attached to this, but it’s really a secondary thrill. My pride is that I am using part of the money that I’ve earned throughout my life for good causes. Over the past year our major contributions have been to refurbishing the lobby of our local clinic, where our medical needs have been handled with skill and compassion. The old lobby did not reflect properly on the great work that the Sansum Clinic of Santa Barbara does and we are proud to put our name to it.

We also created the Elly Nadel Music Therapy Program at Visiting Nurses and Hospice in Santa Barbara. Music was of great importance to my late wife as it is to most of us. This program now furnishes personalized music for all patients. The memory of losing my wife of 54 years has been tempered by the musical memories that she left. Now as part of the same program, we will be providing patients with the opportunity to do their own musical memoir. This will make them feel good while it passes on a legacy to friends and family.

HILLARY
It’s interesting that one of the comforts you are offering those in hospice is legacy, which is clearly important to you, but not anything I think about. Is this a product of age?

JACK
You are 34 years old. At your age, I felt immortal and had no need to pass on a legacy because I could never think of not being there.

HILLARY
Perhaps because I’ve had a chronic illness since my teens, or because the modern media has kept me readily aware of the random catastrophes that could befall me, I know for certain that I’m going to die. Yet, I still don’t feel the need to carve my name into the world. In fact, I very often take my name off of contributions that I make. So what made, and continues to make you, want to have a legacy?

JACK
I don’t need any of it. I want to create programs that will help people in a way that I can see it happen and witness the results. At the same time, I have no problem taking the credit for the funding, for the concept and for the execution. The difference between you and me is both age and fulfillment. There is no need to justify putting my name to it, just as there is no need to justify your anonymity. We are simply proud of what we do and are happy acknowledge the source.

HILLARY
There is no question that you have a great deal to be proud of, and that your community will remember your involvement.

JACK
Having the community remember my involvement is fine, but it is not the most important element. You have often heard me say, “there is no such thing as a completely unselfish act”. A great part of my reward is actually seeing the results of a program that I helped to create and finance. There is a thrill in bringing a project to its successful completion and actually experiencing the gratification of seeing it work and witnessing the benefits.

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