An Unlikely Pal and the End of an Era

Last night after we got up early, drove 2 hours, presented for 6, and drove 4 more, I was exhausted. And Bill and I were having dinner together for the last time with our current roles. I was shocked to find myself nearly in tears several times just thinking about it.

Bill isn’t exactly a person I would have predicted would end up a great friend. He’s old enough to be my dad. He doesn’t agree with me about everything, in fact maybe not about much. He’s spent years making money in the corporate world and as a consultant -- I’ve never not worked for a non-profit. He happened upon a job in the adoption world, I eat, live, breathe, and drink adoption every day.

But last year we started doing these “gigs” where we would head to a state and he would carry my bags and run my powerpoint while I talked about adoption from 9 to 4 three days straight. We did Southeast Texas, we did northern Florida, and this week we did the state of Washington. The routine always includes 2-4 hour trips each night and sometimes travel in the morning.

All that travel and there were no moments of silence. Bill is a great conversationalist and I had 42 years of stories he’d never heard, he had 60 years of stories I hadn’t heard. Our conversations always contained plenty of humor, lots of meaning, and occasionally even some brilliant conclusions. We had nothing else to do so stories could contain history and detail that most people usually don’t have time for.

Now Bill is moving on to a new chapter in his life and is no longer the President of Adopt America. This was our last trip. And I was totally caught off guard last night with how sad I felt.

Because, the bottom line, is that Bill is a NICE guy. He knows how to treat people. He’s a GOOD guy. He always made me feel like a genius, and demonstrated that he accepted me for who I was and respected Bart and I for what we do. He has learned to love my kids through my stories and has showed us in many ways that he knows that what Bart and I do matters.

I may take my “dog and pony show” on the road again, but it won’t ever be the same. Because no matter what, unless Bill is there to drive, unless Bill is there to carry my bags and run my powerpoint, unless Bill is there to do the after-lunch-when-everyone-is-sleepy half hour, it won’t be the same.

I don’t want to leave the impression that I don’t like our new President, because I do, nor that different is always worse. I just am realizing that an era has passed, and it was a stinking good run.

So, kudos to you Bill. Knowing you makes me a better person.