Bev and Kirk

Bev called me twice that evening.  Something was up, and I only hoped it was a good something.  It must have been about ten days before Christmas and we had just elected a Republican Governor, so I was guessing she had a juicy scoop on either her family or Republican politics.

When I finally called her back, I could feel Bev’s enthusiasm from the moment she said, “Hello!”.  She received a Christmas card from University of Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz that day.

Iowa football didn’t even occur to me that day, but it should have.  Bev is a die hard Iowa fan and always knows the scoop on the team.

Bev watched in disgust as player after player was in trouble with the law in one way or another during the weeks prior to this and sent Coach Ferentz a card.  She told him to hang in there, that she was thinking of him.

And then he sent her a Christmas card.

Bev had no ulterior motives when sending the encouraging card.  She was just being Bev, tough-but-soft-on-the-inside Bev.  She called a few fellow Hawk fans to tell them of her cool card that day, and one demanded proof.  See, this one was mad because he was a top dollar contributor and never received a Christmas card.

So Bev asked him if he had reached out to Kirk when he was down.  Silence.  Exactly, she thought.  Most people do things only when times are easy and/or they know they will get recognition for it.

Bev is an amazing person.  She’s my self-proclaimed adopted grandmother who can drink me under the table.  She tells it straight up, with a few f-bombs dropped in for good measure.  Bev has a heart of gold though.

I met Bev while working on a political campaign in Des Moines, and we connected immediately.  She was my favorite volunteer, and we enjoyed recapping the week over a big juicy steak and beer.

How often do we reach out to people when they are down?  How often should we reach out to them?  Once again, Bev has given me something to think about.

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