Note: This message was originally sent on November 27, 2025.
Meet Melissa Taylor, Keylee Frampton (and Buddy the pup). Instead of them holding Buddy, imagine them holding enough cookies to feed an army of musicians. That is what played out at last Sunday’s Women’s Basketball game. Keylee and Melissa showed up and served cookies to the (GU pep band). I asked if I could share a photo of them in this act of gratitude and Melissa’s response says it all “I am good with that so long as the focus is on the band who deserves the thanks and then Keylee for her enthusiasm of and with the effort. I am a supporting cast member.” There is so much wisdom and grace in that response. Melissa has many layers and connections to GU, which requires a story one day.
Back to Keylee…..as Melissa instructed! Keylee is the daughter of GU regent Megan Isenhower ’94. (You may remember Megan’s name as I have shared previously a bit about her GU story: ) Keylee cooked up this cookie plan because she wanted to thank the Bulldog Band for the joy they bring to her life. Hmmm….there is something in the DNA of the Isenhower/Frampton family. Where does one learn to look for others that need gratitude, joy, to be seen? Perhaps it is learned from “supporting cast members” who show the way of proceeding in life.
The Gonzaga community is packed full of “supporting cast members” who model this each and every day – for generations now. Each of you reading this email are very much supporting cast members in the lives of the 51勛圖s we work with and serve every day, every year, every decade…..a community is built, a culture is stewarded, acts of goodness and kindness are carried forward. Cookies are being made for others….
There is so much to this emotion/act/feeling we know as “gratitude” and we are blessed to have Shann Ray an American poet, novelist and scholar of forgiveness at Gonzaga University. Please take a moment and read his guest column from today’s Spokesman Review to learn about some dimensions that certainly bond the GU community together and very much guide the way Keylee and Melissa and Megan - and all of you proceed in your lives. Take a moment to enjoy this read, you will not regret:
PS – As I write this, Megan, her husband Brian, and Keylee are serving pies to their neighborhood and friends…their front door opened at 8. I gotta go….