March 14, 2007

Gifts of Time

Read: James 1:22-27

I am the fourth son of four boys. When growing up in upper NY State, my mother, a good Presbyterian woman, regularly visited a nursing home where she spent time with the residents that had no connection to our family or friends. Being the youngest, and at home while the older brothers were at school, I had to tag along with my mother for these visits. Little did I know the impact that that fact had on me.

Today, perhaps in part due to this ingrained activity from my youth, visiting the homebound, or continuing care facility residents, is one of the things that I do. Now, I do not doing it weekly or even every-other-week, but I do try to make time for this activity.

One of the people that I visit is Bob (Charles R.) Wilson. Bob and his wife are still members of our church and he has provided numerous pro-bono services over the recent history of GPUMC, particularly where a legal presence was required, and sometimes vital. He also is missed as a member of the choir's bass section.

Bob, when he was actively pursuing the legal profession, provided Sue and I wonderful and generous assistance to our small company. He personified the word "counselor" when applied to the legal profession. He, and his staff, not only supplied the detailed legal approach, but also gave some needed direction that naive young business owners desperately required.

We owe this man at many levels, and it is a pleasure to be able to provide a small token of our appreciation at a time when he is held to the personal physical confines that sometimes confront our lives.

I thank both my mother and Bob, for the gifts they bestowed on the world.

Dave DeWitt