“Many a witty inspiration is like the surprising reunion of befriended thoughts after a long separation.”
– Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829), German poet and philosopher
And so it was for me this evening.
In my 30+ year career, few people, and few stories carry the significance that Tom Coughlin carries. The story of how we came together, back in 1991, is one that I tell often but that I won’t memorialize here, because it doesn’t do credit to the professional that Tom Coughlin always has been, and the leader that he has become.
Nearly seven years my junior, he is equal parts inspiration and product, partner, friend and brother.
As near as we can tell, it’s been at least 16 years since we last were together, but it was if it had been last month. Beginnings shaped in planning radio campaigns and cemented while chasing tornados together, bearing themselves out in the literally hundreds of people whom we’ve been blessed to lead, across several industries in companies large and small. It seems like yesterday watching my Springer Spaniel puppy run with his first born, now a college graduate, and tonight, as the world’s largest Labradoodle pestered him, the reunion was on — a bond across the miles and years that candidly felt almost as fresh as when we last worked together, 20 years ago.
There are people that remind us why we were born. There are bonds that defy explanation, that validate the best of who we are and make the worst of who we are irrelevant.
Tom Coughlin made a difference for me in 1991. In 1994. And tonight, with a 90-minute visit, he did it yet again. With a visit from a dear, long-time friend, I was reminded of what makes me tick. Tom is a difference maker across generations.
Thanks, Brother Coughlin.
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