The power of kindness

“It is both tragic and strange that people do not value every breath, every smile and every act of love.
Life is fleeting, and very much taken for granted.”
– Wayne Gerard Trotman

Tragedies in life bring into focus that which we value most. Without darkness, we cannot see light. Without challenges, we cannot realize our potential. And without sorrow, we cannot know joy or the kindness it allows

This is a fundamental truth that is difficult to accept in the moment, when the world does not make sense and heartache arrives at our door or nearby. Such is the case for one of our own facing an unimaginable loss.

Last Sunday, more than 330 people came together for a Zoom memorial service to celebrate the life of Francesca Ana Kaczynski, the 9-month-old granddaughter of Francine Smilen, an Advantage Performance Group partner based in New York.

Francesca, affectionately known as Bean, Beans, or Beanie, had an impish smile and “impossibly” cute cheeks. Born in March at the beginning of the pandemic shutdown in the U.S., she died on Christmas Eve from a rare form of brain cancer.

A tribute to her short but brilliant life went viral as her parents shared their story. Her mother, Rachel Ensign, a Wall Street Journal reporter, is Francine’s daughter, and her father, Andrew Kaczynski, is a CNN reporter. A fundraiser in her memory has raised more than $500,000 for research.

“Rachel and I used to wonder if anyone else would ever know Francesca, because of the lockdowns.” Francine wrote for the eulogy she delivered on Sunday. “How ironic to now see how the intimate chronicles of her journey umbilically connected thousands around the world, despite the prohibitions on human contact.”

From those connections, kindness has flowed abundantly, she said, her feelings masterfully reflected in the words of the Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye (which we share with you, below).

“The juxtaposition of the extraordinary wonder and the profound tragedy of Francesca’s short life has taught me about the kindness in the world,” Francine said, “the boundless power of that kindness, the generosity that resides deep within the human spirit, the profound connectedness that walks steadfastly alongside us, as we limp through the new truth of our lives.”

Our hearts are with you and your family, Francine.

On great thing: Kindness: A poem by Naomi Shihab Nye in a poetry film by Ana Pérez López