Here's To You Bill

I learned this evening that my friend Bill W. passed away on June 4th. Bill was not a big man physically, but he was a true giant of a man. He had dedicated his life to his kids and his grandkids.

I think it was for them that he achieved so much that was good in a life that was all too short and filled with much more than his share of tragedy. But he never allowed himself to feel sorry for himself or let the tragedy get him down for too long. When the weight of all of it became too much for him he would retreat into himself and bear the burdens alone.

I was privileged to be one of the few people who knew Bill's life story and the full extent of the burdens he carried all his life. That he did carry them all his life, yet achieved so much in his life is a mute testimony to how great a man he was. Mute because he shared his burdens with so few.

Bill was fortunate as a young man to have a grandmother who loved and cared for him. I am convinced he would not have survived without her. She made sure he knew he was loved. He repaid her by doing the same for his own grandkids years later.

Bill lived in the midwest. His ashes were scattered, as was his wish, over the land that he loved which had sustained him and nurtured the kids he loved.

Here's to you Bill. May God hold you in his arms and wash away your burdens. May he grant you eternal peace.

Thanks for being my friend and thanks for having your grandson contact me to inform me of  your death. I'll miss you my dear friend as will those who knew you best. You were a giant in my eyes even though we never met face to face.

Rest in peace buddy!

Jack Scott