Day 8
I recently came across something which Matthew wrote in June 2019. He was writing a letter inquiring about a future position as a civil rights advocate at an out-of-town law firm. Although Matthew never specifically shared that goal with me, I am not surprised he wrote the letter. I know he was deeply concerned about the inequalities in our country and wanted to try to help make a difference.
Ever since he was young boy, Matt was extremely sensitive to others’ needs and pains, and he was always thinking of others before himself. Although there are many, here is a small example:
In sixth grade, when Matt played little loop football, he and some other boys on his team were chosen to go on the field before a Buffalo Bills game. This was a dream come true for those who were selected. His entire team was going to the game, but only a few were allowed to take the field before the game. At the time, we didn’t know Matthew was one of the players who was picked for that honor.
A month or so after the game, we bumped into a parent of another boy who was on the same team as Matt was. The parent thanked us for allowing Matthew to give up his spot so this parent’s son could go on the field in Matthew’s place. We had no idea about this act of kindness because Matthew had never shared it with us.
When we questioned him about it, Matthew said that as much as he wanted to opportunity to go on the field, the boy, who was a year younger than Matthew and had recently lost his mother to cancer, needed to be on the field more than Matt did that day. End of story.
Matthew would have been an excellent civil rights attorney. Even though he was never really discriminated against, he would have been empathetic to the needs of those who were wrongly accused or hurt in some way because of a particular label that was placed upon them. Matthew would have fought for the discriminated, with no regard for himself or his life. That is who Matt was---service to others before himself.
Matt wrote this many years ago:
“There should be no judgment based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or socio- economic status, or any other category that humans have created to label people. In order to follow the footsteps of our founding fathers and truly make a country that we all feel welcome, we must truly appreciate and understand the phrase from the Declaration of the Independence: “All men are created equal”. To be honest it should read: “All men and women are created equal”. I understand the physical differences between the sexes but at this point in time, there is no reason for us to still have wage discrimination or discrimination based on our gender. It is time we all take a step back and realize how to love and respect our differences, but to understand that we are all human and all equal in the eye of our Creator. We are all not perfect. Time to stop acting like our gender, religion, orientation, or socio-economic class is superior. Frankly, it does not matter. All of these categories are human classifications that have evolved to become derogatory. It does not have to be this way if we do not want it to be. Time for us to make sure these labels do not suffocate us or influence discriminatory decisions.”
-Matthew Benedict
For a donation today, I contributed to Feed More WNY. This organization serves the young and old with trying to fulfill a basic necessity of food. Service to others…that’s what this organization is all about. I made the donation memory of a man who passed away this past January, Mr. Donald Ogilvie. Don served our country and served the WNY community as an honorable leader, school superintendent, and educator; he lived his life through service to others.
My act of kindness included sending a child a small amount of money so she can fund her mission in supporting a cause that is close to her heart. This child is taking her loss and grief and is trying to work through it by helping others. Matthew would be so proud of her.
My #12 physical challenge consisted of….12 modified pushups…they were not pretty, and I had to take a break between them.