Unsung Hero

My favorite person, you ask?  My answer would probably vary from day to day, because my thoughts tend to wander among the memories of a varied and fulfilled life.

One prominent memory, though is of a man in my Mom's church, named Edsel.  He wasn't the kind of man that evoked respect among his peers: he stuttered when he spoke, and was often shunned because of it.  He attended church regularly, but often wore rough flannel shirts and jeans, rather than the finery that others of the 'righteous in-crowd' wore.  His brother also attended the church, and both men had families, but that is where the similarity ended.

Week after week I watched as Edesl was treated as a lesser member, a 'go-fer' in the multitude of programs in which he volunteered his assistance -- as if his speech impediment affected his brain.  In all the years that I knew him, however, it never affected his friendliness, nor his earnest desire to serve.  This was truly a man in whom there was no guile.

His brother, on the other hand, was a successful businessman, and probably the stingiest man on the face of the earth.  These two men quite possibly remain so strongly in my memory because of the extreme opposite polarity within which they existed.

Each week as the church services ended, I observed Edsel grabbing a handful of the church bulletins on his way out the door.  These he took to various shut-ins, taking the time to visit them awhile before he went on home.

When my father lay in the hospital dying, Edsel was the first and most frequent visitor to our family, always unassuming, always prayerful, always there.

In later years, I saw this man publicly ridiculed by his son-in-law over a menial work project we were doing.  He later came to me with tears in his eyes, asking, "Did I do something wrong?"  Of course not, my friend.  You've done everything right.  It's these pious hypocrites that are doing something wrong.  I believe that one day there will be a judgment -- and these people are in for a real surprise!

Dallas D'Angelo-Gary 03