Even though Rey and I have similar professional experience and interests, our focus has been on nurturing a strong loving personal friendship.   Rey is one of the most humble, loving, accomplished, kind hearted, generous and most importantly humorous human beings I know.  He has the curiosity of a 7 year old and the wisdom of an old wise ageless soul.  Before Covid, we’d meet often for breakfast or lunch; only “rule“ is we needed to block off a couple of hours.  Our time typically flew by, toggling between “musing about nothing“ George and Jerry in the dinner style to rich in-depth spiritual, humanistic, philosophic discussions.  This of course included what we were binging on and in-depth analysis of plot lines/characters etc.   What I love about our time together is I always come away richer AND always have lots of homework, from the various ideas to further think about/research share with others etc.Of the many accomplishments and honors Rey holds, the one I’ve been most impressed with is his post doctoral studies and mastery of “sheltering in place”…been doing this for years….way before covid, he decided to embrace and support his neighborhood, the local shops, restaurants, library rec centre as his outer circle and his home/garden as his inner one. He choose to venture out less and less in the world and more and more brought the world to him.   He constantly has several books going, courses to explore, movies/tv series AND now Zoom groups to attend. He has an insatiable thirst for knowledge, growth and learning.  Another of his mastery skills is saying “yes” to a few things and “no thanks” to most other things. It’s allowed him to live a full and fulfilling life of “want to do”s, rather than “have to do’s”.   So honored that one of his want to do’s is spending time together.

Before Covid, we’d meet often for breakfast or lunch; only “rule“ is we needed to block off a couple of hours. We never have an agenda or predetermined topics.   We just start talking and often magic happens and our time flies by, toggling between “musing about nothing“ George and Jerry in the dinner style to rich in-depth spiritual, humanistic, philosophic discussions. This of course included what we were binging on and in-depth analysis of plot lines/characters etc.  What I love about our time together is I always come away richer AND always have lots of homework, from the various ideas to further think about/research share with others etc.

As much time as we spend, continually am amazing at Rey’s depth and breadth of experience and adventures that I previously knew nothing about. It often leaks out almost as a parenthesis.   Couple of examples:

• Casually mentioned that I was heading off for a month to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico a couple of years ago. He then casually mentioned he’s been there…following a question or 2 came to find out “been there” actually meant returning for several years building upon his experience and love for advanced dressage horse riding training, involving cross country, trick riding etc…was spellbound listening to him share stories of him and his group of riders in traditional garb, majestically making their way into San Miguel’s town square as sun was setting…images of Don Quixote and his crew are an apt analogy.   Can only imagine Rey is in thousands of photos/videos of people taken by this scene.

This is the same guy by the way, who would have tears running down his face when he was led around a ring for a kids pony ride.   Rey literally got back on the horse to face/embrace his fears and turned it into a passion.

• Another example was when we were talking about whatever and Rey folded into the conversation that he played baseball as a kid…nothing unusual there until I probed and found out he was referring to playing 1st base and right field for the UCLA varsity baseball team. Really??….he said this so casually as if anyway could have made and played on the team.

• To demonstrate where our conversations and homework to follow occur, will share another short story. Rey in a followup conversation a few years later about his baseball days, said he was curious about a distant memory and mystery if I could help him solve. He mentioned that at one point his baseball team did an east coast road trip and came to Harvard (where I attended many years later). The team had a tour of the school and at one point visited the aquatic center, where a bunch of students appeared to be taking a swim test. He was told it was a mandatory undergrad requirement to know how to swim and he never knew if that was true….I didn’t either.   Off to google we went and uncovered a fascinating story.

• Apparently, at different points at Harvard, it was a requirement for students to learn to swim and pass a swim test,. The origin of this requirement was widely attributed to major benefactor, Eleanor Elkins Widener who had given Harvard its library in memory of her son who perished in the Titanic on condition that all students would learn to swim, because Mrs Widener believed that if her son had been able to swim, he would have survived.

• As intriguing and compelling this story was, came to find out a few weeks later, in prep for this testimonial, that the story was inaccurate. Policy was in place apparently prior to the son being born. Unfortunately fake news been with us a long time.

We never seem to know where our conversations/curiosity would lead us. Can go on with many more examples but sense you get the picture of the richness and diverse rabbit holes and rainbows we follow.

Have a deep love and respect for Rey. When thinking about the meaning of “Real Wealth” in life what comes to the top of the list are soul enhancing, bountiful relationships like the one I have with Rey. Feel truly blessed to be a part of his life and journey.