Back to Books

For those who read this for the books ... hold on a coupla three days.
First, I want to post a piece on our cruise.
Then, I'd like to write a couple notes about our trip to Colorado Springs, Boulder and Denver.
The first stop was to visit Susie P, a missionary to South Africa who was a friend of ours in Quito. We've maintained contact ever since.
We also stopped to visit a childhood friend of Jan and myself, Janice M who lives with hubby Geoff in Littleton, CO.
Then Boulder for the Logos Association Conference. Lots of great book stuff there. It'll probably be a long post ...
And on to Denver for the ICRS, formerly known as CBA ... the Christian Booksellers Association convention.
So ... stay tuned. There's good stuff ahead.

Another one off the payroll ...

Well, a happier theme to this post.

Son Brendan graduated from Gordon College on May 13th.

It was a day to remember for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which was the incredible rain and floods. The ceremony had to be moved from the usual Quad to the Bennet Center (gym) which didn't do a bad job of accomodating the majority of celebrants.

Besides the rain, we had to deal with a couple other screwups to the schedule.


Neil couldn't get there Friday night thanks to the weather, so I had to get my mother and Jan to the Bennet Center early, get down to Logan Airport for Neil and back to campus before 9 AM ... so of course we didn't get to check out of the hotel until after graduation.

And after graduation my mother had a terrible time in the pouring rain trying to rush over to Lane Student Center for the reception and a chance to meet the profs. and Brendan's fellow grads. In the rush Mom's athsma got the best of her and she had to stop off in the lobby of Wilson Hall, I had to rush for the car and get her. By then we knew we had to get back to the hotel to finish packing and check out.

Through all this our friends, the Pomazons (we go back to the early 80s when we lived in Malden and then Salem, MA) were trying to put together some sort of lunch encounter before we had to get to Logan for a 6:30 flight to LA.

After about a dozen phone calls they graciously offered to go get some Quizno's so we would be a bit less anxious. Meeting somewhere was out of the question given the pelting rain, which just wouldn't give up.

In the end Pomazons and Roberts had a marvellous visit and enjoyed a great cake in the warm, dry Pomazon kitchen. And 90 minutes of breathing time before the madness of the airport.

Long story short ... we made it to Logan, flew uneventfully to LAX, boarded the Carnival Pride for Mexico on May 14th ... and while we were waiting to pull away from the pier Amalia Pomazon called to update us on the flood. It ended up invading their basement and it turned out we got out of there just an hour or two before the roads became impassable.

So, Brendan. What for most graduating classes is a rather unremarkable day turned in to something unforgettable.

We'll make it up to him with a visit to Homecoming in October ... Gordon is "alma mater" to both of us.

Colyn Roberts, '72

A Paul for All ...

It's been a couple months.

My absence from here began with a graduation and a family trip. More about those later.

During our trip, though, we got the devastating news that Paul Cartwright had passed at 58.

It's hard to write about Paul without hyperbole ... he was special in just about every way that matters. And he had a great voice. And a screwey sense of humour. And he was a natural mimic who could "put on" just about any accent he'd ever heard ... including some foreign languages he didn't know!

But what I will forever remember about Paul is his faithfulness to his calling.

Paul was one of the most natural counsellers that God ever put on the face of the earth. People from all walks of life, colours, creeds and origins found in him someone who could relate to them and offer appropriate advice.

Paul was convinced that he was called to help those who didn't have an obvious financial access to counselling, and he served at the Christian Counselling Centre, a ministry of Calvary Bible Church here in Nassau.

He could have had great financial success in private practice, but Paul (and wife Priscilla, too) was convinced that if he bloomed where he was planted, his needs would always be supplied.

And that was true. We've lived close enough to them to know it is. We've seen it.

Paul was one of the "Divine Nobodies" that Jim Palmer talks about in an upcoming book by that name. Someone who's a bit of an unsung hero. The best kind, in my opinion.

His blessings weren't necessarily financial or material. At Paul's funeral a packed church and a quiet undercurrent of assurance were testimony, though, to just how blessed he really was.

And in a strange way ... and I don't know exactly how to express this ... Paul's legacy will make itself manifest.

Look forward to it.

Count on it!