Listening, how sweet it is!
I was introduced to Dale shortly before his 80 th birthday. Dale was a retired preacher and poet who had been widowed from his wife many years. I first started visiting him because I was a closet writer, and I learned he was a writer and had published books of poetry. So, I visited as often as I could, spending hours listening to stories of his life in the ministry, of his wife, who he lovingly referred to as “Dearie,” and his tales of surviving the depression, like finding discarded rotten potatoes to take home to his mom for soup. He would often read me some of his new “lines” of poetry. After his 90 th birthday, I heard his family moved him from his house of many years into a senior retirement community. I tracked down his address and planned a visit. He was happy to see me, and we enjoyed some great conversation. He said he liked being able to walk down the hall and talk to people, and he said the staff were very friendly. However, the look on his face did not match his ...