They Believed in Me (Part III)

I am continuing my blog talking about people in my life who believed in me in some way or another and helping me on my way. I may conclude with this blog…I don’t know just yet.
I recall the chief engineer at the radio station where I worked in Goodland who thought enough of me to assign me the responsibility for maintaining the equipment and transmission facilities for the station. During this time I also coordinated a move to new facilities overnight, with the station being off the air only a few hours. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and the work I did…some of the best working years I’ve ever experienced in part due to the confidence Wayne had in me.
I remember very well a woman in Ardmore, Oklahoma who, after a very difficult two-year tenure at a church there (I should never have taken that position), quietly and with no fanfare picked my wife and I out of the ditch, washed and dressed us, and got us going again in life. She graciously offered to pay all tuition and any other expenses I could put onto my account at either of two universities where she was sitting on the Board of Trustees. Of all of the people I will have mentioned in these blogs, she stands out as one of two of my heroes. Thank you, Carrie Lou.
After we moved back to Kansas, due to illness striking my mother, there continued to be those people who believed, encouraged, and mentored. The church we attended helped us with financial aid at a time when we couldn’t find a dime and a nickel to put together. Those who made that decision to help us are special people, and I thank them.
My mentor in health care was also my administrator. Somehow, he saw in me the makings of a white collar worker while I was doing a blue collar job. He took chances on me, mentored me, taught me, frustrated me, and took blows for me in allowing me to do some things others only dream about. Vern is the second of my two heroes. I haven’t a clue where I would be or what I would be doing were it not for him.
The editor of the Hays Daily News took an interest in my writing and encouraged me by giving me space in his newspaper twice a month. I’m indebted to him for letting me express myself and get immersed into that world.
And the mentoring and encouraging doesn’t stop with more advanced age. Even past age 55, I continue to find people who encourage and teach me. Chris in Topeka was one such person. Although I didn’t work with him long, I learned much from him and continue to maintain contact with him and in turn encourage him in his work.
And so it goes (to borrow a phrase from Linda Ellerbee) and so it continues, even to this day. Those I work with now are much, much more astute in the work than I. I have a lot to learn and trust I can fulfill my responsibilities while leaning on them. May God bless all who have had a part in my development and education in life and living.