Cancer stole one of the good ones today

Originally published in July 2012

Around 1,500 people die from cancer every day.

But today that number feels different. Today, my own sister became a statistic.

Marla Tracy Pak was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme last August. Fought an ugly and losing battle for 10 months, and left us today, leaving a big void in the TracyPak Tribe.

I was asked to do a PechKucha talk the day I got the news last August. I called an audible and instead of talking about civic hacking, I talked about human qualities that make families, tribes and communities better. The qualities that my sister had.

I neglected to share that presentation last year, but here are the highlights…

1. Be kind to every person you interact with and talk to strangers like you’ve met them before.
2. Have empathy.
3. Support the things your friends are passionate about regardless of your opinion.
4. Celebrate nostalgia within your tribe.
5. Spoil your nieces, nephews and neighbors’ kids.
6. Converse with others with infinite optimism in your voice.
7. Send surprise packages to people.
8. Call an out of town friend or sibling and setup a long-weekend visit just because you can.
9. Make a choice to relate to people rather than drawing contrasts.

Success in your personal relationships defines who you are. We should all be a little bit more like Marla.