For the past two years, I have served the State of Connecticut in an advisory capacity for stem cell research. Connecticut is one of a few states actually giving out grant money for both academic and industrial research using stem cells. It was a truly rewarding experience and it was with no small amount of regret that I came to the end of my appointment period.
Thus, it was an absolute delight to be recognized by Her Excellency M. Jodi Rell, Governor of Connecticut, via a generous and touching commendation that included having Tuesday, September 18th, 2007 named as “Dr. Willy Lensch Day” in the State of Connecticut. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had my own day before. I couldn’t quite figure out what I should do with it. I spoke to an authority on holidays (my daughter Annie) and we decided that on “Dr. Willy Lensch Day” all children should put out their shoes before going to bed so that they could be filled with candy by a giant elf. Oh, and free pony rides for everyone… and free coffee… with those nice flavored creamers.
This brings up the following questions:
What would YOUR own holiday be?
How would it be celebrated?
What special traditions would it involve?
This ought to be good…
Wow, that’s brilliant! What did you do on Lensch day?
Hm, good question. On Corie Lok Day, everyone would get free ice cream and chocolate and an afternoon to play frisbee.
Ah, I was so caught off guard by “Willy Lensch Day” that I did nothing but drive back to Massachusetts from Connecticut. I told some friends, all of whom thought that I should have gotten a free limo ride to Foxwoods or something.
My friend Rebecca Zacks at Xconomy.com came up with a good personal holiday:
“…on rebecca zacks day, we will all watch television and eat
marshmallows and then sit around talking about the programs we
watched and praise one another for our astute observations and pithy
comments about said programs. and eat more marshmallows. the fancy
french ones that come in flavors like anise and orange blossom
water. and every year on rebecca zacks day the IOM will release its
annual report about the health benefits of watching television and
eating marshmallows, along with a progress report on its campaign to
increase the american public’s watching of television and eating of
marshmallows. but if you go to the IOM site and try to download the
report, you will get a kind but firm reminder that you should be
watching television and eating marshmallows rather than reading reports.”
Katrien’s day: get up at any time you want, have a glass of champagne with strawberries, go for a beautiful walk in nature, have a massage and go out for dinner…
WoW!! Now THAT’S what I call a holiday!