#12DoK | Stories of Kindness
If You Want to Save the World, Why Not Start With Sea Turtles?
The story of a friendship and a man who touched some lives in unimaginable ways
One day, not long before Christmas, I had a call with a client called Cindy, who has become very dear to me.
As her branding and social media coach, she has shared some of the more intimate aspects of her life with me and, likewise, has always loved to know and hear more of my life.
On this day, she shared a story that meant the world to her and asked me to write it for her.
Her brand: her love for the sea
We were discussing her upcoming launch on Instagram and going through content ideas that are relevant to her personal brand. Specifically, the causes that are most important to her.
Sea turtles and scuba diving are two of her most loved things, and I came up with a few content suggestions that could align, such as “Fun Facts About Sea Turtles”, or organising a fundraiser for the sea turtle charity that she supports.
She stopped and looked hard at me, and said,
“That’s just given me chills. Today is the birthday of the man who started the trust, and he is someone who is really important to me. He is the person I wish to pay tribute to today, of all people.”
And then, she proceeded to tell me a story that brought tears to both of our eyes as she told it.
It all began with a chance scuba diving course
She had fallen in love with scuba diving quite accidentally when, in her teen years, her high school offered a 6-week free introductory course to scuba diving as an elective. She loved to swim; at the time was in a synchronised swim and was training be a lifeguard, and figured
“What the heck -it sounds cool and it beats the winter gym class basketball season session.”
She found a love for it and, following that 6-week course, she asked her dad for $60 to get a full scuba diving certification.
At 15, she became the youngest person, and the only female to be a fully certified scuba diver in Western New York at the time.
From here, her love for the water and for diving only grew, and she decided to go to Florida to study Marine Biology.
Upon finishing her degree, she remained in Florida to pursue her dream career as a marine biologist. However, during her fourth year working in this position, she went on a visit home to Buffalo, New York, only to discover that her terminally-ill father was not going to last much longer.
She knew that she needed to be with her father, no matter what
He became her priority and, for her own peace of mind, her career had to fall by the wayside. She returned to Florida to request that her boss fire her so that she could at least claim unemployment benefits, and return to care for her father, as he succumbed to the final stages of diabetes.
After around 6 months of being home, she felt that she needed something to occupy her mind, and saw that the local university was advertising for a boat captain for their study field trips. She realised that she had spent enough hours on boats during her time in Florida to be able to apply, and so she did.
She was invited for an interview and immediately clicked with the professor who interviewed her. To her amazement, after thinking that the only place to study the subject that she loved so much was Florida, she discovered that here in her hometown was a man teaching that very subject. A man who, like herself, was passionate about sea turtles and tropical ecology.
It turned out that, in fact, the position of Boat Captain was already filled. However, instead of sending her on her way, to her surprise, he asked “would you like to become a graduate student?”
It had never occurred to her to go on to graduate studies, but she knew that she had to. This opportunity had presented itself and she had to say yes. So she did.
A friendship evolved
The professor, whom she came to know as Jim, took her under his wing during her time studying under him, and a warm and trusting friendship grew between them.
In the knowledge that she was studying alongside taking care of her sick father, he showed care and concern for the fragile place she was in. And she, in turn, was grateful for his kindness. She remained dedicated to her studies and showed him that his kindness was not in vain.
When her father passed away, she went to tell him the news.
As she was telling me this story, she started to become emotional, quite unexpectedly. Choking over her words, she explained that he simply asked her two questions.
“Are you okay? And do you need money?”
Cindy had no siblings close by to turn to and her mother remained distant and inward as she grieved. Up until this moment, she hadn’t realised how alone she felt.
“He was the only person to ask me if I was okay.” She said.
Jim became a father figure to her and she grew close to his family.
When his wife passed away, Cindy attended the funeral, after which he asked her if she could stay a few days, because he wanted help with something.
It turned out that the thing he wanted help with was editing the manuscript of his third book – a book that chronicled the last 25 years of sea turtle research. Jim and Cindy edited the book side-by-side for 3 solid days, taking in every tiny detail and making it the best it could be.
This experience showed her that she had a talent for editing, which she has then gone on to use almost daily in her current career in marine biology and performs as a senior editor for many large documents and permit applications.
Working closely with Jim during her studies turned out to be the best gift Cindy could have asked for.
She had the opportunity to partake in things she had only dreamed of doing, getting to contribute to the collective studies on aquatic & terrestrial species.
Attaining this Masters Degree gave her far more opportunities to skip a few rungs on the marine biologist career ladder than she had imagined possible, and she quickly was given roles as project manager for large research projects.
He asked her to assist him in constructing the first-ever artificial reef for studying marine life, in Lake Erie, Buffalo. As a scuba diver, she also took on the role of monthly monitoring of the reef to see how many fish were starting to use it.
Her only sadness was that she ended up turning down the best job offer she had ever had, care of Jim. It was a dream job, working directly with sea turtles in the Long Island Sound.
She turned it down due to there being an almost 100% chance of contracting Limes Disease while working in the field. Being newly-married at the time, with plans to start a family, she didn’t feel it was right or responsible to take the risk.
Chance or destiny?
Over the years that passed since then, Jim and Cindy’s friendship has remained constant. She has often turned to him to find answers that she couldn’t find elsewhere, and he has always, in turn, valued her knowledge and perspective.
Cindy often wondered if this meeting, at a time when what she needed most was a guide and a father figure to lean on, was chance or destiny.
She had always been very close to her dear father. He had taught her a great many unusual life lessons and gave her books to read that, although at the time were less popular, are much read today. Books such as Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, of which she still has the original copies.
He taught her to build circuit boards; how to build, sand, paint and rivet new sheet metal on her first car, and they even built a house together. He built a recording studio to develop local jazz talent, hosted a local radio station, and developed recordings of self-development resources and languages to help people learn, long before they existed on the open market.
He had many memorable sayings by which he lived, such as
“Guard Your Mind”
“Listen, Observe and Stay Away from Stupid People”
and
“Get your foot in the door and figure it out later.”
He was a man who, in a quiet and humble way, made a difference.
“ My dad had a brilliant mind, he was hard-working, inspirational, an entrepreneur and truly a man ahead of time in so many ways. He was quietly humble, never flaunted his talents, yet he simply lived through his never-ending creativity, ingenuity, and his deeply passionate love of music.”
So, when Jim appeared in Cindy’s life as her dad was fading away, she has never stopped wondering if somehow, in the non-physical realm, her dad had orchestrated this meeting.
Cindy asked me to write this story in order to express her gratitude and love for this man who stood as a father figure for her for the last 28 years of her life.
This gratitude stands in honour of the memory of her late father.
Jim is better known as James Spotila, who has spent his life studying ecology and standing for the conservation of species who can’t speak for themselves.
The sea turtles have been the main focus of his career, and of his life since his wife’s passing. He started The Leatherback Trust, through which he was able to set up bases in Costa Rica, where he has developed an area as a sanctuary; to protect the nesting beaches of leatherback sea turtles.
According to the World Wildlife Trust:
“Marine turtles are the living representatives of a group of reptiles that has existed on Earth and traveled our seas for the last 100 million years. They are a fundamental link in marine ecosystems. Leatherback turtles consume large numbers of jellyfish which helps to keep populations of these marine organisms in check. Marine turtles, including leatherbacks, also provide a vital source of income as a draw for ecotourism in coastal communities, especially in the Coral Triangle.” — Source
In Cindy’s words:
“He is a man who stands for something and never wanes. His gentle, kind, humility is unsurpassed.”
2021 is the year that Cindy’s father would have turned 100 years old. Since his passing, she has sought to make his memory proud by giving her life, alongside Jim, to supporting the passion that her father helped her to pursue — her love for marine ecology and, most especially, sea turtles.
May we remember how it is through the kindness of such souls that Planet Earth can thrive, despite the destruction that humanity has wreaked upon her.
This is Day 6 of my # Twelve Days of Kindness series. Read the other stories here.
The introductory story tells of my mission to gift all proceeds from reads and coffees raised from this series to help to feed the millions living in poverty this winter.
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