Heavy Hearts.

He didn't make me feel like an idiot because I didn't check. The air conditioner didn't work at Mom's house. A firm believer in giving business to friends or those that have given business to me I called my good buddy Dave. He owns a heating and cooling company. We had our football night at the home offices of Dave's business. He is a long time friend. Today his heart his heavy and my heart joins him. Dave sent out his lead repair man, Dan, to Mom's house. Well dressed in the perfectly pressed company uniform Dan quickly diagnosed that the problem was that someone had shut off the master switch to the air conditioner. Apparently my brother-in-law when doing some work when they were visiting Mom had shut off the switch, forgot to either turn the master switch back on or tell us that he had shut it off. I said "well that was pretty stupid of me not to check the master switch before calling you." Dan said "these things happen." He treated Mom with the utmost of respect. My time with Dan was fleeting but rewarding. He loved to go motorcycle riding with Dave. He took care of his mother until she had died just a little over a year ago.

Last Saturday a man was a passenger in a car driven by a nephew that he was helping move. They stopped at a red light. A car pulled along side with his windows down. Seven shots rang out. The car with the shooter in it took off with police units in fast pursuit. The chase ended when more shots rang out and the shooter was dead,

The man helping his nephew move? He was transported to the hospital were he later died. Dan was 55. A self-taught carpenter. A father of three. He lived four doors down from his sister. According to Dave the best employee a company could have. According to one neighbor "he was the nicest guy in the neighborhood. He'd see someone who needed help and he'd come running."

The shooting was random. There was no connection between Dan and the shooter. The shooter had no criminal history and there appears no apparent motive for the shooting. They did find some mescaline in the shooter's house but until toxicology reports come back from the State they won't know if the shooter was on drugs.

You just never know do you? You could just be out for a ride. You could just be at a stop sign rocking out to your favorite CD. You could be doing something for someone else like helping a nephew move. Then your life ends.

I'm asking you to send good thoughts, good prayers, good vibes not only in the direction of Dan's family and friends but also into the direction of Dave and also into the direction of Dave's Heating & Cooling company because they also lost a family member. Then let's follow Dave's advise in a message that he posted on a message board yesterday:

"Dan was a great guy and someone that was just great to be around. He always had a smile and a dumb joke to tell. He will be missed. Give your loved ones an extra hug today."

TODAY'S WHO AM I:

Yesterday's answer: Jeannette Rankin

I was born in Missouri in 1876. I was considered the first woman to serve this political position beating Ms. Ferguson by sixteen days. When I was seven we relocated to Kansas when our house burned down. When moved on to Nebraska where after graduation from high school I attended a teacher training college for two years before teaching kindergarten. I married a shopkeeper in 1902. We moved to Wyoming. My husband became a leader of the Democratic party in that state and ran for office many times. However, he was defeated many times by Republican candidates. After finally winning a election he died an year and a half into his term. I was nominated to run for that office in the special election held after his death. I never campaigned but still easily won. I continued my husband's platform calling for tax cuts, assistance for poor farmers, bank reform, and laws protecting children workers, women workers, and miners. I urrged my state to ratify the amendment prohibiting child labor and advocated the strengthening of prohibition laws. When I ran for reelection I was narrowly. I think it was because I again refused to campaign. At the 1928 Democratic National Convention, I received 31 votes from 10 states for vice president on the first ballot. I also gave a speech seconding Al Smith's nomination. After the convention, I served as vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee and as director of the DNC Women's Division. I was the first female director of the U.S. Mint. I served five full terms until I retired in 1953. I made my last trip to Wyoming when I was 96. I died in Washington D.C. at the age of 101. I was not a feminist and did not identify with suffragists of my era. My biographer wrote of me "While [she] did not begin her adult life intending to 'do it all, she ended up successfully managing a family, the governorship, lecturing in the Chautauqua circuits, a role in national politics and a federal career because her life was divided into several distinct periods that allowed her to concentrate on and enjoy each aspect of her life in turn." Who Am I?