Here at the beginning of 2012, I’ve been delighting in spending loads of time with Candace Rose this week and tomorrow Brooke flies in from California and then she and I are off to visit dear family in Pennsylvania. Airports are becoming a second home (see #6) it seems (smile) as our three twenty-something birds fly in and out quite a bit these days. I remember standing in Boston’s Logan Airport in August 2007, after a family trip to see Candace (who was interning at a publishing house), and hearing a little voice say, “Life from this point is going to be a series of hello’s and goodbyes.” Yes indeed. In light of this, I want to remember one simple truth: Life is short. LIVE IT. LOVE IT. And, SPEND IT WISELY. I’ll be reflecting on this a great deal in 2012 and putting action to the words and thoughts of 2011’s message on influence. Here’s one more “shot in the arm” about the “ripple effects” of our influence on others.