365/6 John S.

John S.

(I think I have blogged about him already in another post.) John was a religious leader of mine when I was a young adult. I admired him and looked up to him and his opinion mattered to me.
he wrote me a note one time after teaching an object lesson. The object lesson was about Joseph's coat of many colors. John was a magnificent story teller and whether he made stories up or just retold stories with skill, I loved to listen to him talk. His story about the coat of many colors spoke of the color purple and how special it was to have purple sewn into coats because of #1 how difficult it was to create the colour and #2 the special meaning that went along with anything purple. Purple was highly valued and very symbolic.
One day - a while after he told the story, he passed me a note written on a ripped piece of paper. All the note said was "You are the purple". I felt valued and appreciated and it meant an incredible amount to me.

Though I have left the church, I still have my scriptures in a case and in that case there is a side zipper. That note remains in the side zipper to this day.

I have always looked back on John with fond memories. Earlier this year he tried to reconnect with me. he sent me a letter and I replied. He asked about my family and I told him about my spouse. Since I wrote him the letter telling him was gay our interactions have completely stopped. I have tried to connect with him again to no avail. Now I suppose if I were an optimist I would say that he was busy or my calls and emails weren't getting through, but I am not an optimist. I am a realist and his actions/"non-actions"since then have changed my opinion of him completely.

Why I chose to write about this is because I discovered that one single incident can change the perception I have of people COMPLETELY. We knew one another for years and had years of interactions to build a relationship on and still the impression he has on my life has now taken on a whole new "colouring".