How One Person Changed my Life

A few days ago, I randomly thought of a gentleman I had attended graduate school with. It was just a simple wondering of where he was now. Two days ago, I saw his obituary in my local paper. He had probably gone on to his eternal reward the day he crossed my mind. I'm sure God allowed that random thought for a reason.

He and I weren't friends. We spoke very rarely. Yet, I remember him for two reasons. First, I typed his master's thesis for him. An older gentleman, he wasn't computer literate. He had paid someone to type his thesis, but it ended up being the wrong format. Knowing I was quick on the keyboard, our program director asked if I'd be willing to do the second draft, which I was happy to do. I'm sorry to say, I couldn't recall the topic. I was able to look it up in our college library catalog: Role of a chaplain in a hospital setting.

More importantly, he was the first person to ever introduce me to spiritual direction. He had a flyer for our local center for spiritual direction which he handed to me. He said he had been going for years and that it might be good for me. It took me a few years and a couple children to get there, but I've been meeting with a spiritual director for 8 years now. It changed my life. In many ways, the reason you are reading this blog is because he handed me that flyer all those years ago. I owe him a great debt of gratitude.

From his obituary, I learned that he was a self-employed landscaper. After earning his master's (and in keeping with his thesis), he worked as a chaplain at a local hospital and nursing home. I'm sure he touched many lives.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord. And thank you for allowing him to cross my path.