Over the course of my almost 80 years I have come in contact and interacted with many places and faces.

I have lived in Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, California, Washington State, Kentucky and Korea. In the last two I was in the US Army during a time when there was a draft. If I hadn’t volunteered, I never would have lived there. But, my life has been enriched by living in those two places.  When I was young, I enjoyed traveling to many places to see how other people lived, what their customs were, and observe their sights and sounds. I was humbled by the mountains I saw in Colorado, California, Washington, New York and Korea. I was overwhelmed by the spectacular Autumn colors in the Hudson River Valley and other parts of the Eastern United States. It also was humbling to stand on the shores of the Great Lakes, especially Lake Michigan which is only about 40 miles away from where I now live.

I have met and carried on with many gracious people like Francis Goodell who I saw personifying the tender compassion of Christ with one of her hospice clients, as she stroked the dying woman’s hair. I have been shown grace by a First Sergeant in the Army, a black man, who gave me a second chance after I had made a foolish decision that ended me in jail overnight. When the Military Delinquency Report came down to his office, he told me he was giving me another chance and threw the report, which called for a response, into a nearby trash can. I was given a path to try by Dr. Brownson (of Words of Hope) when I was wondering if I had received a call into the ministry.  I was blessed by my late wife, Inga, and her family in New York who welcomed me and included me in all their plans. We all grieved together when Inga passed away suddenly. I shall always be grateful for my New York family. I currently am so appreciative of my siblings, Becky, Mary, Matt and Jim who with their spouses have come to hold such a wonderful place in my heart. There was a time when I wondered if my brothers and I would ever get along, but now we get together every week to walk and talk, with lots of teasing, and reminiscing. I was stunned and overjoyed when I heard yes from Cindy, my current wife, when I asked her to marry me. With her by my side, I was finally able to put up a Christmas tree again.

I can’t know how all these places are doing now. I am not inclined to travel these days. But I hope I left a blessing each place I lived. I can’t know if I did, but I can and do know that I have carried a little piece of each place in my memory. Some memories are more vivid somehow. With others, they seemed tucked away in a smaller part of my brain which I don’t access for some reason very often.

I hope with many of the faces I have had contact with, I have blessed them in some fashion. Each interaction with them is buried somewhere in my memory. Some are more vivid than others. But they are all there.

And I have been enriched by each place and face in my life.