It's A Wonderful Life!
 Too often, we don't
realize what an impact we have on people's lives. Sally decided she was going
to make sure Kent knew his role in ours. She arranged a surprise (soon to be
non-surprise) birthday party, inviting many of the friends that he has helped
out with computer, video, and technical projects over the years.  Actually, Sally was the one that
spilled the beans. All of the invitations went out via e-mail. Unfortunately,
one of the addresses was mis-typed. Not usually a problem except that the
addressee was at the church and since we are the site administrators, the
bounced message made it home. Kent forwarded the message and removed all traces
of the message, trying to act cool and deny knowledge, but Sally finally got it
out of him. We spent time eating and getting to know each other. Then Sally explained the invitation's reference to "Sun City Computer Rooter." When we lived in Cupertino, Kent supplied several friends with used HP computers. He automatically became their technical support and called himself "Cupertino Computer Rooter." Now that we are living in Sun City, he has lots of new friends that he has been helping out with their computers.  Each guest
was requested to say a few words about Kent, how they had met and some of the
things that Kent has done or means to them. There were lots of comments that
touched us deeply. Some folks are new friends from church and were speaking about his quiet spirituality. Some were long time friends of the family that he met through Sally. I think all of us got a richer understanding of the impact that one person can have. Daughter Sherri calls him the "ski Nazi!" He may have forced the kids to do things in uncomfortable conditions, helping them to know that they really could overcome insurmountable challenges. He continues to instill this confidence in those around him. Grandson, Ryan, summed it up nicely. "I have a really, REALLY, cool grandpa!" |
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| If you would like to contribute to CCI to show
your appreciation for the deeds of Kent Simcoe, please send a check to: Canine Companions for Independence P.O. Box 446 Santa Rosa, CA 95402-0446 In the message box put: Honor of Kent Simcoe |
| If you did not get the opportunity to let him know his impact on your life, you can e-mail him directly. |
| Thanks to each of you for your part in making this a great event for all of us. |
Becky Balding made the most delicious cakes (from
scratch no less -- way to go Becky!). She precut it into 63 pieces (one for
each year) and put a candle in each one. Not to take things too seriously,
several of the candles were the kind you can't blow out. Kent was a good sport
through it all.
For Christmas, Sally gave Kent a Zappy Electric Scooter
for short jaunts around Sun City and down to church. He mentioned that all that
was missing was a Superman cape. Did he know that Cathi, a friend from Sally's
work, had made a cape with a SCCR logo on it? Surely we hadn't blown another
surprise. Sharon Donaldson helped out stitching the logo to the cape and Cathi
finished it off with painted features. Kent had to model it for everyone while
whizzing by on his scooter. 
Comments
such as: "He actually looks like he's having fun!" were plentiful.
Kent has been a quiet supporter of
CCI for the past 9 years. He has video taped the past 32 Northwest Region
graduation ceremonies, among many other "pet" projects.
Since Kent
is so adept at helping folks out, Sally thought it would be a nice touch to
arrange a CCI fund-raiser and puppy-naming in his honor. After all, when a guy
has the personality of a Golden Retriever and loves to help out like one, what
better gift than to carry on his tradition with a four-footed apprentice. So
requests were made that in lieu of gifts, donations be made to CCI in his
honor. So far over $1200 has been donated, with several other folks indicating
they would send their donation straight to CCI. Sally got confirmation that
indeed, when the next "S" litter is born, a pup will be named "Simcoe" in his
honor. This page last revised:
January 25, 2001