A huge loss to the board. I hope his wife, Tammy, and their family find great comfort together. There is nothing more important than that when we lose a friend or loved-one, as far too many on this board already know. I hope they get the chance to spend as much time with one another as possible, and can sustain that connection.

Humans are hard-wired to care about one another. We go beyond "nature" when we expand that, in concrete terms, to strangers. The further we expand the range of our caring, the more we're able to set aside our differences, the more "human" we become. The closer to "enlightenment" we get.

We're also hard-wired not to hurt each other. We have to be taught to do that. Those we hurt have to be depicted as "the Other," dehumanized, because very, very few of us are born with that capability from Day One. So that has to be taught.

The heroic acts in Houston and no doubt throughout Florida show us our profound connectedness and our ability to go straight and immediately to what matters: Loving kindness toward our fellow humans. Helping them. Protecting them. Saving lives.

Death and human suffering should remind us of this.

Nelson will be missed.