A Night to Remember

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. If you could please take your seats, we will begin with the main purpose of our dinner tonight, the lifetime recognition of Jeffrey P Element and all of the work that he has done for our community.”

A round of applause erupted from the hundred or so guests of the small banquet hall. Jeff sat at his table, stoic, glass of coke and a cup of coffee in front of him. He didn’t look miserable, but he wasn’t happy either. 

Coffee wasn’t served yet, at least for anyone else, but since this was Jeff’s big night, exceptions were made. 

As the attendees recharged their glasses and took their seats, a different speaker approached the microphone. 

“Good evening, everyone. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Doug Reese and I’m the vice chair of Element Agriculture. I have been asked to make a small speech tonight to talk about Jeff as a worker and as an entrepreneur. 

To be honest, I don’t know Jeff as anything but that. We met at a previous employer and Jeff, as everyone here knows, is very private. But he got excited about these ideas that he had, and most importantly, a desire to make the world a better place. He spoke of solving the food and water crisis. He spoke with a zeal and a determination, like he had to do it and that there wasn’t any choice in the matter. 

He left to eventually go run this business full time. He had it as a side hustle all while working. How he had the time, I’ll never know. And he eventually came to me a few years later, asking me for help. He said wasn’t the best at business, which I later found out was a lie. But it turned my life around. The B-school party kid had to grow up, because it was time to change the world. 

And we did. Element Agriculture is now one of the world’s greatest innovators in permaculture technologies, hydroponics, and water retention solutions. Somehow, we’re making both the organic and chemical fertilizer people happy. So, Jeff, congratulations, just for your business vision alone, you deserve a night like this. Cheers!

The crowd responded in kind and with clinking glasses. Jeff simply held up his glass of coke. A few people came over to pat him on the shoulder, shake his hand. Normally he was Mr. Sociable, working a room, making contacts. Not tonight. Tonight was going to be a hard one to get through, and he knew it. That was why he had Jarrett there. 

“You’re doing great.” Jarrett said to him, also patting him on the back. 

The next speaker got up. 

“Hello everyone, I’m Daphne, the chair of the local Children’s Aid Society here in town. A few of my non-profit colleagues also wanted to be able to speak, but I have managed to muscle my way to be tonight's representative to talk about Jeff’s philanthropic activities.

As Doug mentioned, Jeff is a very successful businessman, with a vision to change if not to save the world. What is perhaps much more impressive, is how little of his company he keeps for himself. He has decided to try to help people even more so on a person level. We at CAS have received multiple large donations. 

I’ll pull the curtain back a bit here. Normally, in order to get a large donation, it requires some outreach to even find someone, and usually it comes with strings, conditions, and recognition. But Jeff wanted none of those. In fact, this night is happening despite his intentions. We really felt as a community it was important to honour him. We received his donations with only one request, please help as many orphans lead a happy and successful life as possible. 

With a request and a donation like this, one would expect him to be an orphan himself, and although a very private person about his life before coming to our town, he has talked about his loving family and how they would do anything for him. 

Jeff, your donations to CAS, the addiction center, and to the other organizations here in our community have truly made it a happy and successful place for hundreds of people. This may not have been your first home, but you've made it a better home for others. Thank you and cheers.

The Master of Ceremonies returned and called Jeff up to the stage. The whole evening had been a blur for him, something to survive more than anything else. Daphne had been right; he had not wanted to do this. Not because he was private, because he was. But because he didn’t feel worthy. 

“25 years ago …” Jeff began. No, he wasn’t going to tell that story. This night was sold to him as a way to inspire others to be generous as well. 

“25 years ago, I wanted to make the world a better place. It became a driving force for me, an obsession if you will, a compulsion. I needed to … amend the current state of things. I am grateful, truly grateful for that chance and opportunity and for all of the help others have given along the way. Help to make these changes over these 25 years, one day at a time. Thank you.”

His short speech was well received. He walked down the stairs to thunderous applause. He knew a lot of these people. They were probably wondering why he was so introspective and quiet today. 

A tear rolled down Jeff’s cheek. Surprised, he wiped it away. He finished his coke and turned to Jarret. 

“I have to go to the washroom. I’ll be right back.”

Jarrett nodded. Jeff got up and went to the back of the room, past the washroom and to the exit outside that led to the rear of the building. A few people were out there having a smoke. They nodded to him, he nodded back and walked the other way. 

He reached into his wallet, fumbling through a few things until he got a number. No name, just a number. He took out his phone and called. 

“Hi, you’ve reached the voice mail of Sarah Maclean. Please leave a message and I’ll call you right back.”

“Hi Sarah, I know you’ve asked me to stop calling. There’s no use and that you’ll never forgive me. And I understand that. I … I killed your father. Not the car, not the alcohol, I did that. And nothing I can do can take that back. I just wanted to let you know that I, I’ve tried to … I want to let you know how sorry I am. Again, and that I am trying to make it right. I … take care.”

He hung up the phone. 

“And here I thought you did your step nine decades ago.” A voice said behind him. 

“Thank you again for coming Jarrett. I appreciate the help in getting through this night.”

“It’s been fun. For some reason, these people really seem to like you. And my presence has added a bit of intrigue to the festivities. Who is this handsome guy at the main table with Jeff and the mayor. A friend from years past? A relative perhaps? Gay lover?!’

“An AA sponsor from a couple towns over would definitely not top the list of intrigue.”

“You’d be surprised.”

“I don’t deserve this.”

“No one does. But there’s a room full of people who might beg to differ. You’ve impacted a lot of people in this town.”

“All because I killed a man and got my rich father to cover it up so I wouldn’t go to jail”

“A DUI isn’t murder Jeff.”

“He’s dead and it’s my fault.”

“We’ve been through this. There is nothing you can do about yesterday. It is gone. And although the impacts of it remain, there is nothing we can do to undo the past. You said so yourself. All that we can do is take it one day at a time. Do the next right thing. For doing that for the last 25 years, yeah, for that alone you deserve a night like this.”

Jeff sighed and put the phone back in his pocket. Jarrett took the piece of paper and slowly, almost ceremoniously ripped it up in front of him. 

“I have it memorized you know.”

“Of course, you do. But, if you really feel like punishing yourself, you can go back in there and thank all those people who paid a lot of money to hear nice things about you. At least, it will feel like punishment to me.”