<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><font size="2">Dear Gotham </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><font size="2"><br></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><font size="2"><br></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><font size="2">I had a wonderful time yesterday visiting with Burt Fendelman who so many of us in Gotham know.<o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p><font size="2"> </font></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><font size="2">Prior to COVID, Burt and I got together nearly monthly for breakfast and talked about life, Gotham, our wives, our children ... and more. COVID put a stop to nearly all of that.<o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p><font size="2"> </font></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><font size="2">We had one or two breakfasts since, but it was difficult getting hold of him more recently. Then, earlier this week, I received a phone from his wife, Helaine, who invited me to visit. Burt has a brain tumor which has left him partially paralyzed. <o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p><font size="2"> </font></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><font size="2">I visited yesterday and spent three hours \u2026 talking, again, about Gotham, politics and our thoughts, feelings and anxieties with getting older. He\u2019s alert though his body is weak, and he needs people to talk with.<o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p><font size="2"> </font></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><font size="2">During our time together, Burt expressed a \u201cwhy \u2026 \u201d, and I remembered the Buddhist perspective that there's <u>no</u> difference between birth and death \u2026 just that circumstances have changed \u2013 which Burt acknowledged.<o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p><font size="2"> </font></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><font size="2">My time with Burt was a euphoric experience. We both are members of Gotham\u2019s Encore group \u2026 and in that context it come-to-mind that, as we age, we become concerned about our relevancy. I don\u2019t think we lose relevancy as we age\u2026 more so the focus of our relevancy changes. And, just perhaps, Burt\u2019s \u201cwhy\u201d was an expression of his changing relevancy \u2026 raising a reflection of life\u2026<o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p><font size="2"> </font></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><font size="2">I didn't know what to expect prior to visiting with Burt. I found though someone whose emotional, intellectual and spiritual consciousness are as strong as ever, hampered only by the state of his body\u2019s responsiveness.<o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p><font size="2"> </font></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><font size="2">I saw Burt\u2019s desire for mental stimulation. He and his wife would like others to reach out, visit if you can. He would enjoy it, and it would strengthen him as well.<o:p></o:p></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p><font size="2"> </font></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p><font size="2"> </font></o:p></p></div><div><font size="2"><br></font></div><div><font size="2">Rick Raymond</font></div><div><font size="2">Personal, Family Business and Spiritual Leadership</font></div><div><font size="2">New York, NY</font></div><div><font size="2">646-594-5587</font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="2"><br></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="2">\u201cEach generation has the responsibility of bringing to the business their own vision for the future of the business.\u201d \u2014Samuel Curtis Johnson III, former Chairman, SC Johnson: A Family Company</font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="2"><br></font></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><font size="2">Helping others achieve a greater sense of inner peace and well-being, releasing the limitations and tensions of the ego self.</font></i></div><div><font size="2"><br></font></div><div><font size="2"><br></font></div><div><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div><font size="2"><br></font></div><div><font size="2"><br></font></div></div></div><font size="2"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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