Love Notes

 Earlier this week, Barbara Urbiel and I were discussing the annual Angels’ Place golf and tennis outing (Pine Lake CC on July 12). After the meeting, my mind wandered a couple miles west from Pine Lake, down Commerce Road, to our Maxwell Home.  This, of course, was the first Angels’ Place – opened almost thirty years ago. Recently, James Klinger, one of the guys who lived there passed away.  His death continues to be mourned especially by his housemates and those who cared for him. And yet, in his death, we see the beauty of what you have created. It is easy to imagine the difficult, faith-filled decisions made about our residents before they were even born.  In that same spirit, it is our sacred privilege to care for them as they near the end of their natural life.  James lived his live with dignity and resilience; he lived his final days in peace in his Angels’ Place home. You make this possible.

Last week, a small group of us were preparing for an Angels’ Place board meeting.  As part of that preparation we played a ten-year-old video about the founding of Angels’ Place. The video is powerful in that four of the five founders of our organization tell the story in their own words.  Their passion, humility, and faith are palpable. Reflecting on that video, Loretta Nagle Ryan told us another story -- one summer day, she was entertaining her young granddaughter when she learned that a grant application to the Myrtle E. and William G. Hess Charitable Trust needed to be delivered that same day.  So, Loretta exchanged her bathing suit for a pair of shorts, grabbed her granddaughter, and together they delivered the written proposal to an office in downtown Detroit. On August 11, 1993, the Hess Foundation granted that $10,000 request – and they have supported Angels’ Place every year since.  That was the first foundation grant ever to Angels’ Place. Loretta reminds us to not be afraid