From Tim Glass
Jan-18-2018
From: Tim Glass
Date: Thu, Jan 18, 2018 at 9:05 AM
Subject: Re: Paul Gray
To: MaryPat/Ron George
Mary,
Thank you so much for letting us know about Paul. I was worried when we didn’t get a Christmas letter and photo from them this year. I kept telling myself maybe they were out traveling the world and we would get a New Year’s update any day. The more time that passed, I felt in my heart something was up.
Paul was a wonderful mentor to me; he inspired me and pushed me to want to be the best I could be. I met Paul many years ago as a young student in New Mexico then followed them for classes out in California. He and Gretchen followed my successes. The fact was the two of them always felt like family to me as I had lost my mother and father very early in my life.
Oddly, the book I just finished went in for publishing this past weekend. Along the journey of writing this book, I could hear Paul telling me that a real writer writes and goes back and re-writes that same piece over and over until it is polished and perfect.
Many years ago, I wrote a book, Just This Side of Heaven, that Paul and one of their daughters got. I wrote about the DASH in the book. The DASH is that small dash between the date of birth and date of death on the headstone. Many times, the dash is overlooked. However, it is one of the most important things in that person’s life. The dash is representative of the life that person lived, who they were, how they touched people’s lives. With that said, I know Paul left a huge DASH that will live on in each family member and each student he touched along the way.
I also teach now and I would like to think Paul’s legacy will carry on in my teaching as well as my writings. It was an honor to be one of his students.
Our thoughts, prayers and hugs go out to Gretchen and all the family. Please, if you will, pass this along to Gretchen and the family to thank them all for sharing this most amazing man with me.
Tim and Cathy Glass
Date: Thu, Jan 18, 2018 at 9:05 AM
Subject: Re: Paul Gray
To: MaryPat/Ron George
Mary,
Thank you so much for letting us know about Paul. I was worried when we didn’t get a Christmas letter and photo from them this year. I kept telling myself maybe they were out traveling the world and we would get a New Year’s update any day. The more time that passed, I felt in my heart something was up.
Paul was a wonderful mentor to me; he inspired me and pushed me to want to be the best I could be. I met Paul many years ago as a young student in New Mexico then followed them for classes out in California. He and Gretchen followed my successes. The fact was the two of them always felt like family to me as I had lost my mother and father very early in my life.
Oddly, the book I just finished went in for publishing this past weekend. Along the journey of writing this book, I could hear Paul telling me that a real writer writes and goes back and re-writes that same piece over and over until it is polished and perfect.
Many years ago, I wrote a book, Just This Side of Heaven, that Paul and one of their daughters got. I wrote about the DASH in the book. The DASH is that small dash between the date of birth and date of death on the headstone. Many times, the dash is overlooked. However, it is one of the most important things in that person’s life. The dash is representative of the life that person lived, who they were, how they touched people’s lives. With that said, I know Paul left a huge DASH that will live on in each family member and each student he touched along the way.
I also teach now and I would like to think Paul’s legacy will carry on in my teaching as well as my writings. It was an honor to be one of his students.
Our thoughts, prayers and hugs go out to Gretchen and all the family. Please, if you will, pass this along to Gretchen and the family to thank them all for sharing this most amazing man with me.
Tim and Cathy Glass