I was facing a big life decision recently so I went again to talk with my friend Bill. He’s the strong, silent type and a great listener but when he speaks, his voice always slices like a knife of insight through the goop clouding my thinking.
Bill’s place is very comfortable; shady with a great view of nature from where he rests – woodlands, pastures and now a large stand of loblolly pines that one day will be harvested. I laugh with him to think that when those trees are cut, people that have been driving by them for a generation are going to gripe and complain that the forest was cut down in pursuit of the almighty dollar.
They won’t remember the trees were planted 20 years earlier specifically as a cash crop to benefit the work of Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina, where Bill grew up, and lived and worked most of his career.
I can hear him chuckling and shaking his big ol’ head, rubbing the bald pate once forested with hair. The more time I’ve spent with Bill, the more I realize he’s always understood people at a level much deeper than his easy-going nature typically revealed. He’s not snowed by the self- important preening of others who gathered around his table, even when it looks on the surface like he takes their words at face value.
I tell Bill how much I appreciate him, how he and his wife, Louise, took us in and showed us the ropes when I started working where he worked. I was a generation younger, in a higher “position” on the organizational chart and from another part of the country. None of that mattered, only that we respected each other, each worked hard and we all loved our children.
Bill doesn’t say much, but I know he cares. But, I digress.
I told Bill about the decision I faced. Comfort is cool; change is hard. His expression was stone cold, waiting for me to continue. The more I told him, the more I heard myself talking it through, the more it became clear which direction I should take.
I just chuckled. He’s always like that now, waiting for me to talk it through between us, without saying anything, knowing that eventually I’ll make the right decision.
With that out of the way, I tell him I know that he and Louise are enjoying their time back together again after several years apart, due to circumstances beyond their control. I catch him up on the kids, and sense his pride in them, as he’s proud of every kid who grew up at Baptist Children’s Homes, also due to circumstances beyond their control.
Bill acts as if he has all the time in the world, and I’m reluctant to leave him, but...life goes on. I thank Bill for his time and wisdom, rise to my feet, brush the fallen oak leaves from his headstone, and close the gate to God’s Acre behind me.
Thanks again, Bill. You’re always there for me.
Norman Jameson was Charity & Children editor 1987-1999. He has continued to be involved with BCH through various writing projects, as he continued his career with other non-profit organizations. He and his wife Sue Ellen live in Winston-Salem. Their three children who lived with them on campus for several years are now adults living in High Point, NC; Nashville, TN; and Newtown Square, PA.
Article Written by Norman Jameson, Former Editor of Charity & Children