A Most Kind-Hearted Man, A Forever Friend

I am very thankful for this opportunity to write my reflections on knowing George Wadleigh. He was, and always will be, an extraordinary individual who had one of the kindest, gentlest hearts I have ever come across. George and I met at Chicago/Read Mental Health Center where he was a Christian Science chaplain. I helped give services from Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist in Chicago some Saturdays as soloist or Reader, sometimes both, and George and I became friends. I noted the sweet, positive way he worked with the participants in the Health center and he and I oftentimes had beautiful discussions following the services which stuck with me throughout the day. I was inspired by George's vast knowledge of the Bible and his insights as a thinker and a spiritual healer. It did not surprise me when he told me that he was writing a book titled "The Ram in the Thicket" and what it was about. He surprised me by asking me to design the cover, and I put my heart into its creation. I soon found what an absolute perfectionist George was regarding the ram's expression that was to combine innocence and struggle. It was a 'journey' to arrive at the final work, a combination of ceramic glaze and acrylic paint on a fired, shaped tile, but 'we' did it! George often spoke about his family, and in such a loving, complimentary manner. May George's wife, Bonniesue, and their children and granddaughter be continually blessed from his expression of love and fatherhood. That love extends to his friends, also, and I am forever grateful to be counted as one of them.