Canvass
Testimonial
Greta Dershimer
I started attending TJMC-UU in August
1988, when I moved to Charlottesville from Syracuse, NY to teach at UVA.
My husband, Dick Dershimer, was a bit leery of moving to the South, and didn’t
want to leave his hospice work in Syracuse quite so abruptly. So for most
of the first year I was here, before Dick joined me in Charlottesville, I
was living alone for the first time in my life. I only knew 3 people in Charlottesville,
and I didn’t know any of them very well.
I had been a member of the May Memorial
UU church in Syracuse for 9 years, and had sung in their choir for most of
that time, so my first move here was to join the choir as soon as it started
up in September. I felt very welcomed by KaeRenae, who was the choir director
way back then, and I enjoyed getting to know the choir members. Many of the
folks I’ve sung with over the years have become good friends, and some
of them are still singing here today. The choir was the first group to make
me feel at home here at TJMC, but it certainly wasn’t the last.
As I joined various committees too
numerous to list, or worked on short-term tasks, I kept meeting interesting
people. Many of them became role models for me. Both my parents died in their
mid-60’s, so it’s been helpful to know people like Connie Cheetham
and Dell Smith, who’ve showed me how to stay active and involved in
my mid-70s and, hopefully, beyond. The services auctions got me started crocheting
crib blankets as an offering, and as a result, I feel a special closeness
to a number of babies and former babies, some now in high school, who at
one point in their lives slept with a crib blanket I crocheted.
I have a rather large extended family,
with seven children and their six spouses, six grandchildren, and lots of
nieces, nephews, and in-laws from my two marriages. Our co-ministers talk
about our church community, but I tend to think of the church members I know
well as part of my extended family. And during this past year, when Dick
was sick and dying, we received wonderful care and support from our extended
church family.
I have been a pledging member of TJMC
since the fall of 1988. As my UVA salary increased, so did my pledge. I pledge
at what we now call the “visionary” level. At my age, it’s
nice to think of myself as visionary. I support this church financially because
this church has given me support in so many ways over almost twenty years.
I like to think of my pledge dollars as a kind of life insurance payment.
Our pledges help to insure that this church will continue to be here for
me and for you at the times in our lives when we most need it. Equally importantly,
they insure that this church will be able to continue to address social justice
issues to improve the lives of others in our much larger extended human family
in the Charlottesville community. For many lives, in many ways, our Canvass
matters.
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