*****
Jack Wilkins had been my friend.
Jack had moved into Georgetown about 15 years ago. He had sold his property on the intersection of highway 29 and East Inner Loop Road to a developer. I had been with Jack (in his 1957 Tropical Turquoise Chevy Belair) as he drove past the property - now full of houses. It was a bit of a wistful tone in his voice as he said “That used to be my farm”.
Jack had moved into town to a two-bedroom house on East Ninth Street at that time, so he told me. He laughed then. The most important thing was it had a two-and-one-half garage!! One stall for his regular car, one stall for this mint 57 Chevy, and then room for a lawnmower and other garage stuff.
Jack had joined the Bridge Brats about three years ago. He was tall and lanky and wore his cowboy boots. He tended to be quiet, but once you knew him, he was all heart. (One of my weekly Bridge Brat goals was to get Jack to laugh, in that deep, sonorous laugh.)
We had become friends. He would join a few of us for lunch some days. He even took me out, although he specified it was “not a date”. It got so that every Friday morning was coffee time and we would talk. We shared our lives over our cup of coffee (and Jack almost always got a bacon-egg breakfast taco). He even got so he could say “I love you” but then added, “like a sister”. (I, of course, told him that Love WIns and that I loved him).
It was just two months ago that I sat with Jack in that 57 Chevy as he drove in his last Red Poppy parade.
*****
But, that was in the past. Jack died three weeks ago and today, I was sitting with his two sons, David and Thomas (but nobody knew them as anything but Dave and Tom). We were in a conference room at First Texas Bank in downtown Georgetown. Jack had made me the executor of his will. As a “Retirement Life Coach”, I thought that was appropriate for me.
The two ‘boys’ (grown men - but Jack always called them ‘his boys’) sat on opposite sides of the table.
Dave was two years older than Tom. Dave had been the local ‘boy’ and I had met him many times before. He was the Principal at the Tippet Middle School on Leander Road. He, like his dad, almost always wore cowboy boots. He was the kind of principal middle school kids needed - supportive, out-going, and, when he needed to be, the disciplinarian.
Tom was the super-star. He too was an educator (at least some times). Currently, he was a Professor on leave from Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois. He was serving as a vice-secretary of the Department of the Treasury in Washington. He was an economist with a Ph.D. from Yale University. He had many publications and even a few books. (I thought I could almost understand some of his theories - sometimes!!)
They had been competitors all their lives. Both played football at Georgetown High School. Dave had been a defensive back. Tom had been a running back and captain in his senior year. Tom got a scholarship to play football at Texas A&M. (His father kidded that he almost disowned him for going to A&M instead of the University of Texas - Austin). Then, he went on for his master’s in economics at Baylor and Ph.D. at Yale and had taken academic life as a career. He had served in government twice before in the Treasury department. He had been approached to be the Secretary of the Treasury but had declined the limelight in favor of the research side as the Vice-Secretary of the Treasury.
Both boys were married - Dave to his high-school sweetheart, Sarah, and had three children - Micah, Ada, and Beth. Tom was married to Erika, a girl from Ohio that he had met at Yale and they had two children, Leah and Abby.
*****
But, today was the reading of their dad’s will. When I last sat with Jack, six weeks ago, he told me about the will and indicated the only item that might be controversial was who got the 57 Chevy.
Wills can be problems. I know of families that split because of the will and not inheriting what they thought they should get.
My friend Anne had told me that when her grandmother died, it was like having vultures sitting in the branches over the body waiting to pick out the good parts.
******
But today was going to be different, so I hoped.. But, I knew of the brother’s competitive nature from my talks with Jack.
Dave changed all of that immediately.
He stood up and looked out the window for a minute. (I thought he might be praying).
He turned and faced Tom.
He started “Tom, my brother, I have always envied you. You were the better student, you were the better football player and got the scholarship to A&M. You got a doctorate from Yale (of all places), you are a very successful professor and an advisor at the highest level to the President of the United States.”
“I’m just a lowly middle-school principal.” (at that he smiled). “I have never met the President or sat in a cabinet meeting with him. My high-level meetings are with parents on why their child is not doing well in school.”
“But, today, I have something to say to you. First, I AM SO PROUD OF YOU my little brother. Secondly, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.”
Dave looked over at me. “Karen has talked about LOVE WINS - and I’ve adopted that attitude. I don’t need anything from Dad’s estate. God has blessed Sarah and I. And, although I covet Dad’s 57 Chevy, I can’t take it. “
He continued “I’m learning that ‘stuff is stuff’. If I have a nice house, then I have to get a lawn service to mow the lawn, and I have to have nice furniture. I have to keep up with the Jones and be in the Country Club. But, I’m learning, again, that stuff is stuff. Sarah and I opted early on to have a modest four-bedroom house in a nice neighborhood. I can walk to work from Woodstone Drive in four minutes. I try to invite my staff and faculty to my house frequently, and obviously not at the same time. I can smell and appreciate my neighbor Nancy’s flowers. And, I have learned to be happy.”
“Jefferson, in the Declaration of Independence said we have ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’. And, I am happy!! I am a productive member of society.
“That doesn’t imply you are wrong, not at all. I am so awed at what you do. In these tough economic times, you had an extremely tough job of recommending policies that go to the head of the free world. That could be somebody else's job - but it is my brother’s job. And, I know he researches, analyzes, contemplates, and prays over his ideas and suggestions. It could be the job of somebody I don’t know, but it is the job of my brother. And, I'm so proud of him!!!"
“So, today, we are settling the estate of Dad. I don’t need or want anything - not even the car. I’d love to see it go into some kind of trust for some of the organizations that Dad supported. I want to see the funds go for programs, not buildings, not staff, but for people who have needs. I’d like to see a “Wilkins family trust” or something similar. Actually, maybe not even the “Wilkins Family trust” - more of a generic Georgetown Area Trust. I’d like to see support for not just the needy, but to the arts, music, athletics, educational, seniors, social and other programs in the area.”
Dave paused, and with a twinkle in his eye “And, maybe showing the politicians of our country, that LOVE WINS - so probably a big chunk should go to Washington DC”.
He laughed and Tom did too.
Dave walked around the table and pulled his brother out of his chair and they embraced for about five minutes. I could see tears running down both cheeks - first Dave’s, and then down Tom’s cheek too!!
*****
Epilogue - we did work out a Trust for the Wilkins family. Dave was the local administrator, and somehow I got to be on their board. LOVE WINS was our goal. We knew we couldn’t solve all the problems of the world, but working one at a time, maybe we could help!!
*****
So, a story of LOVE WINS!!
Sometimes I don’t see much love in the world, but I know and believe that LOVE WINS!!!
Happy LOVE WINS Saturday!!!
Karen
