Common Good

Where there is love there is life. Where there is courage, there is hope. Mahatma Gandhi

There's that pairing of hope and courage again. They seem to go hand in hand....especially these days. 

A few days ago I quoted Jonas Salk...who developed the first successful polio vaccine. It was the same day I shared the photo montage of Patty's front garden in the snow....and she and I have exchanged a few emails since.

Patty is active in Rotary and one of their major goals is the complete eradication of polio. Patty's husband Reid and his brother Tom were personally vaccinated by Jonas Salk in 1952 after their mother died of the disease in 1950. Here are some interesting things Patty shared with me about Jonas Salk. 

Salk never profited personally from the vaccine. He chose not to patent the vaccine or seek any profit from it in order to maximize its global distribution. Six pharmaceutical companies were licensed to produce the polio vaccine, and Salk did not profit from sharing the formulation or production processes.

In a 1955 interview, when asked by by television personality Edwin R. Murrow, who owned the patent, he replied: "Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?"

Jonas Salk is a shining example of someone selflessly working for the common good. 

Kathy commented on my little reindeer in yesterday's photo...and I thought I would give a closer look. He's one of my favorite little Christmas creatures and he makes me smile.

It was super cold today....and the only time I stepped outside was to feed the bluebirds. The photo montage above is one I sent to Alyson from that very first snow several days ago. 

Where there is love, there is life. Where there is courage, there is hope.