“Grateful for each hand we hold, gathered 'round this table, from far and near we travel home, blessed that we are able…”
It is such a sadness to share that we have lost another one of our beloved elders, Dick Slade.
Like many of you, I am sad, and I’m holding Dick’s family- Phila and Kathy and all- in my heart. I am also grateful that Dick was around and about the Meeting House these past few weeks. Last week he was down in the basement boiler room (where else?) and I could hear him instructing the visiting plumber and his young apprentice about our furnace and regaling them with stories. (At one point I overheard him say, “I was alive during Pearl Harbor!”) I went down to join the conversation at one point, and when he pointed out the Dana Fisher memorial fire sprinkler system, I said we needed to put a plaque up. Later that day I told Kim Adami we actually needed two plaques in the basement- one for Dana’s sprinkler system and one for Dick’s furnace. Dick told me later that he got a kick out of seeing the plumbers’ reaction when he told them I was the minister, leading to some confusion about female priests.
Dick and Phila also came to the Lunch Bunch last Wednesday; little did we know it would be our “last lunch” with Dick. The pandemic robbed us of many church lunches, and so I feel so grateful to have had that one in such company. As Lynn Wentzel said, Dick was “one of the most warm-hearted and genuine people I have ever had the pleasure to know.”
As we look ahead to the week of Thanksgiving, and many of us gather with family or friends, may we be grateful for each hand we hold, gathered around our tables.
See you at the Meeting House,
Rev. Lee
P.S. If you will be eating alone this Thanksgiving or have an extra spot at your Thanksgiving table, please let me know and I’ll play matchmaker. For those of you who travel, travel safely!