“The final kilometers cross level ground. Antonín and I trade places one time, but ski side by side as we approach the finish line at the Stadium. I move as fast as my tired body allows me. I watch Antonín from the corner of my eye and wonder if he is trying as hard as he can, or does he defer the finish line to me because I stopped to help him? I slow to see what he will do. He slows when I slow, and increases his speed when I increase mine. His objective is no longer a secret to me. Strange, yet wonderful, the power of friendship and the way it moves men to react in such noble ways. After all, what will matter most in an old man’s life? The medals he’s won or the friends he’s made and preserved through the best and worst of times? Can a man who has friends be called a failure?”
Bronek in The Hamsa
Dziedek, one of the most memorable, inspirational and truthful passages in THE HAMSA……Dziekuje, Pa.