Editor's note: Douglas Hay, former deputy chief of staff to former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, is a Republican strategist. Follow him on Twitter @dougheye. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion on CNN.
CNN —
After dinner at the Harvard Institute of Politics earlier this year, Alice Stewart suggested we have a glass of wine. Alice was a member of the institute's senior advisory board, but politics was never a topic of discussion for her.
jeremy freeman
douglas hay
Instead, we caught up with life. We talked about running, including the marathon she had planned and the upcoming Spartan race I had signed up for. As we parted, she said: Let's do it again soon. ”
I met her several times after that, but always in the CNN dressing room where guests gathered before going on air. Somehow, even with today's toxic politics, the conversations in the green room are almost always positive. That encounter is also fleeting. I usually don't have time for long conversations because I have to quickly put on my makeup and put on the microphone before heading to the TV studio.
Alice never lost her cool. She was always calm and she was very kind to everyone. But she was much more than that. Alice was positively kind. ”
I've been in the dressing room with Alice hundreds of times. The overwhelming majority were only 5 minutes or 10 minutes, which was plenty of time for them to say a perfunctory “nice to meet you” before moving on, even if they were scheduled to air together afterwards. Whenever I met her, Alice never lost her composure, even when her temper flared up on set (which sometimes happens). She was always calm and she was very kind to everyone.
But she was much more than that. Alice was positively kind.
After seeing my rant (now X) on Twitter complaining about my flight being canceled, she asked if I had plans for Thanksgiving and that she was preparing. He sent me an email saying I was welcome to join him for dinner. It was a small gesture, but it said a lot about her personality.
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I was stunned when I heard the shocking news about Alice's sudden death on Saturday. She is only 58 years old and staying healthy has always been a top priority for her. But my first thought wasn't about her illustrious career or her long history in politics and campaigning, or even about the many times we appeared on TV together.
I thought about small acts of kindness and generosity, offering help to friends who are potentially in need. Anyone who knows Alice, and speaking about her in her past tense is something we all have a hard time processing, no doubt has a story similar to mine. After all, that's what we've all lost and what we'll miss the most.
Losing Alice so suddenly and so tragically gives us all an unnecessary reminder to tell our friends and loved ones that we care about them. Spend more time with them. Most of all, this work reminds us of the importance of small acts of kindness that will remain long after we are all gone.
