I want to take a short while here and break from my usual talk about words and how to use them. I turn instead to the notion of generosity and the reasons I’m contemplating it.

Recently, a Facebook friend posted an article about a grandiose donation made by Montreal Canadiens hockey player P.K. Subban. He gave 10 million dollars to the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

When you consider that P.K.’s seven million dollar US annual salary, his long term contract and all the extra money he earns from endorsements, this may not seem like a huge deal. Certainly it’s not as stunning as a retired plumber giving 25 million dollars to Vancouver’s Lions Gate Hospital.

Maybe the best point for discussion is to contrast the two stories. P.K. is 26 years old and Paul Myers is 82. Both have been incredibly fortunate in vastly different ways. P.K. is a superstar defenceman who has always had generous inclinations. Paul Myers built a plumbing business that eventually became “one of B.C.’s and the Yukon’s largest mechanical contractors.” In sharp contrast to P.K.’s gregarious nature, he’s a quiet man who admits he never sought public attention.

The common thread is that men have given what they can. In both cases it’s a lot of money, and it will be put to good use. We can all learn from their generosity, whether that means giving money or giving time. I believe that rich people need to give money, and the rest of us need to give in any way that we can, even if that simply means random acts of kindness.

In response to my Facebook friend’s post, I wrote: “I believe – vehemently – that if you are as incredibly fortunate as P.K. is, and are able to give back to society in a meaningful way, you have a duty to do so. Yet such an act is rare. Good on P.K. I already liked him as an athlete and person, and now I think he’s even cooler.”

I think Mr. Myers is pretty cool too. I would like to know him and have him teach me more about life.

I hope that I am giving as much as I reasonably can. I’m pausing today to consider that. When I have the chance to give even more, I hope and trust I will do so. I was once a hospice home visitor until a long commute and daddy duty intervened. I aim to return to that kind of volunteer work, and maybe also become a big brother and baby cuddler – a hospital volunteer who cuddles babies that need cuddling. Both would be awesome experiences.

Even if I never have ten million or 25 million dollars to give, I always have myself. In that way, I hope to follow in the generous footsteps of Subban and Myers. They simply inspire me. So do many others like them who haven’t made headlines.