Last night at the MCI Center was truly a special night. The Washington Caps lost 5-0, but that didn’t matter because last night, I got to spend some time with a group of truly impressive and inspiring young men. The men were Soldiers and Marines from Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Eunice Kennedy Shriver is an amazing woman.  I see her a couple times a year, including at her Best Buddies benefit ball each fall, which I often attend with my daughter.  Every year, Eunice has taken a few minutes to talk with my daughter, and they’ve built a special relationship over time.  Beyond those rare face-to-face meetings, though, Eunice has also sent my daughter a 3-4 page handwritten letter each year.  My daughter treasures those letters, and she always keeps them in her scrapbook.   The strength of the handwritten word hit me again the other day.  I did a favor for a friend, and he sent a little handwritten note in gratitude.  It wasn’t long, but it showed that he’d taken the extra time and effort to create and send me a physical note of thanks.  It’s somewhat ironic that we now live in a world with more written communication than ever — with hundreds of digital e-mails, instant IMs and short emoticons — but the value of the handwritten note is greater than ever.  I’m trying to learn from that and send more written notes myself.