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Hi Reader, Welcome to Your Dose of Mana — a quick, weekly note with: If your biggest business challenges are actually people challenges, you’re in the right place. When I was about four years old, my aunt came to pick my siblings and me up from school. Back then, she looked so much like my mom that we climbed into the car, and called her “Mommy.” From that day forward, she became Aunt Mommy. The nickname stuck for the rest of her life. She looked like my mom, but she was very much her own person. She always did things on her own terms. She was fiercely independent. And she wasn’t especially interested in other people’s opinions about how she should live her life. She loved with abandon. In that respect, all three Friedman sisters were remarkably alike. The oldest was married so many times we’ve all lost count. She reconnected with her high school sweetheart later in life and, remarkably, didn’t marry him! Aunt Mommy did too. The boy from Australia she’d fallen in love with at sixteen when he did an exchange in DC one summer, tracked her down decades later, and they married. At the time My mom had been happily married to my stepdad for decades, but after hearing about both of her sisters, I couldn’t resist asking, “Uh, so…anything you want to share with me?” She laughed. Apparently, two out of three Friedman sisters were enough.
After my mom died, Aunt Mommy was my last direct connection to her. She shared parts of my mom’s story that I never knew. She supported me just as you would expect Aunt Mommy to. In early May, my cousin told me she had end stage cancer. I desperately wanted to see her before she died. Because of a previous cancer, she didn’t talk on the phone, so I emailed her. That was a hard email to write. It took me a while to figure out how to even start it, let alone what the subject line ought to be. The best I could do was “Well, F***k.” Her response, “You said it!” She wrote, “I feel more sad for [the kids] than for myself. I’ve had such an amazing life, with unlimited adventures.” And she told me that Bruce and I should stick with our plans to come at the end of June. She died June 4th. At first, I carried the disappointment of not making it in time. Then I went back and reread her email. I realized she had made that decision for me. Aunt Mommy had lived on her own terms. It shouldn’t have surprised me that she died that way too. Her memorial will happen while I’m in Vermont with Bruce. I thought long and hard about driving back. In the end, I realized the best way I could honor her wasn’t by changing my plans. It was by continuing to live mine. I think she’d approve. 1 Leadership Insight One of the hardest things we do is separate what someone else wanted from what we wish they had wanted. Sometimes the people we love make decisions we wouldn’t have made ourselves. The final act of respecting them is…well, respecting them. Not rewriting their choices because they make us uncomfortable. The people who have the greatest influence on us don’t just teach us with their words. They teach us by the consistency of how they live. 1 Practical Takeaway Think about someone who has shaped the way you see the world. What’s one value they consistently lived? Not something they said. Something they demonstrated. Then ask yourself: How could you honor them this week by practicing that value yourself? Sometimes the best tribute isn’t looking backward. It’s carrying something worthwhile forward. 1 Dose of Art A little whimsy. A little joy. A little doodle.
Doodle by Gary Schechner, June 30, 2026 Even though this is technically a “mass email,” I genuinely love hearing from people. Reply, book a Zoom, pick up the phone. I’d love to catch up. If these pieces ever make you think, “I know someone who needs this,” I’m always grateful for thoughtful introductions and shares. Thanks for letting me show up in your inbox. More joy. Less friction. Always. |