SHOWING UP FOR LIFE by Bill Gates Sr.

It is no wonder why Bill Gates is so generous with his money by donating it to different causes. After reading Bill Gates Sr’s book, I understood he and his wife raised their three children and taught them to be philanthropists.

“It goes without saying that children learn the most by watching their parents in action. But the reverse is also true.”
“If we pay attention, parents can learn a great many things from observing our kids.”
(this teaching I liked it so much that I adopted it into my own lifestyle and it was worth it)

What impressed me the most, however, was Bill Gates Sr.’s wife. She was very gracious to write a letter to her daughter-in-law, Melinda, on the day of her wedding to the famous Bill Gates. In this letter, she gave some friendly advice about marriage to Melinda without sounding like a know-it-all.

“Dear Melinda,

In just a few hours you will be married and you and I will share the same name!
Although Bill and I have been married for forty-two years, we continue to learn what it means to be married.

Don’t expect calm waters. Pray for courage. Keep your sense of humour.
No man and woman ever had a perfectly harmonious marriage.
A good marriage takes effort, resilience and suppression of personal ego, but the fundamental requirement is living with the fixed vision that your relationship is permanent and forever.”

In my case, I received the best advice about marriage from an American lady (who was 60 years old), while we were waiting in line to get henna tattoos in the desert. At that point in my life, my husband and I were newlyweds, and I was so happy that I let her know that. She was the one to teach me that marriage should be a constant work in progress.
This eye-opening advice made a significant impact on me because, as a young married woman, I still believed that marriage was as depicted in the novels that I was reading: no work at all and just on-going happiness.
So, Thank You, dear Lady, wherever you may be, for teaching me the most valuable lesson.

Published by Broadway Books, 2009