What Does It Mean to 'Be Somebody'?

This morning I was reading Time Magazine's recent series on the "2004 Global Business Influentials." As I read the pieces on the CEOs of CitiGroup and JPMorganChase, guys who have really 'made something of themselves' and 'become somebody," I thought about my friend Barbara Weeks, who died last week.

Here's Barbara's obituary in the Danbury (Connecticut) News-Times:

http://news.newstimes.com/obits.php?id=8826

Although it's interesting to read about leaders in business, science, the arts, and other fields, it's the regular people that I'm really drawn to. Barbara's obituary only tells a tiny part of the story -- in fact, it leaves out some of the most important things about her, particularly her spiritual life, which is how I have known her.

Barbara lived in a small mobile home and drove an old blue Chevy about 25 years old. Although aging and in poor health, she worked as a home health aide, making probably just enough money to get by. She was willing to live a simple life in order to spend a lot of time giving personal assistance to others and doing as much as she could in her volunteer ministry, helping others to learn about the Bible.

All in all, to me it's the people who are willing to do good and be satisfied with a simple life that have my admiration. A few weeks ago before I knew how sick she was, I let Barbara know how much I admired her -- I'm glad I did.

Now, she was really somebody.

AB -- 12/20/04