One of the first things I recognized as being different less than year after I left Eastman Kodak and started traveling the world as a consultant was the value of friendships you make in working with people for several years. In the nineteen years I worked at Kodak I made several lasting friendships, people I still call, have lunch with or play a round of golf with from time to time. When you become a consultant you find it difficult to build such bonds. It takes time build a strong friendship, for people to learn your character, to understand that trust is more than just a word.
While I have been lucky enough to make some new friends over the past 10 years, I lost a close one last night. Wilson Sheffet and I became friends through our sons, my son Jared and Wilson’s son Matt wrestled together for six years and in that time our children became friends and Wilson and Dawn became friends of my wife Leslie and I. When our sons were seniors in High School we started a weekly tradition of having breakfast on Sunday morning with Dawn and Wilson. Through that tradition a friendship grew, Wilson and I hunted together, golfed together, continued to follow our high school wrestling team always talked sports.
More important than sports we shared the ups and downs that come with raising children, the expectations you have as fathers, and the proud moments in life that can only be provided by those same children as they grow and venture out to face life head on. We shared the stress and excitement of Weddings and how complete you feel when you first hold and look into the eyes of your grandchild. Wilson and I understood that true love is not hard to find, it comes through your family, it’s the pride you feel in every accomplishment, in every small step we take together and in the smiles we share.
Good Friends are hard to come by. I will truly miss the friendship I shared with Wilson Sheffet!
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3 comments:
I must say that I to am a lucky man to have known Wilson Sheffet. I will very much miss our talks, which for the most part centered around our families. Quite often our encounters always started with a "Hello my Friend" on his part. I admired his dedication to his family, especially his lovely wife Dawn. It was not uncommon to see the glee in his eyes and hear the excitement in his voice with the mention of his kids. I know that I am a better person for having known you.
God Speed my Brother
-Larry Linville
Thanks Larry!
For those of us who knew Wilson we know once the pain of his passing heals we will always smile when someone brings up his name!
I love you, Doug.
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