Plymouth Magazine-Summer24-DIGITAL - Flipbook - Page 5
Tell Us Your Story
Plymouth members share their memories, lives, and spiritual experiences.
A Heavenly Putt
By R. Craig Shives
I met Burns Mossman when we were
both in our mid-30s. Burns was being
recruited to join our law firm. I remember
reviewing his resume during the interview
process and being mildly curious why he
had noted he was a diabetic.
After he joined the firm, Burns and I
became very good friends. Most of our
time together away from the office was
spent on the golf course. When weather
allowed, we played nearly every week for
over 30 years.
As I got to know him better, I began
to understand why Burns mentioned
diabetes on his resume. Burns had many
significant surgeries to deal with the
affects of the disease including stripping
and reversing blood vessels in both legs
to improve circulation, laser eye surgery,
heart bypass surgery, the amputation
of a toe and a kidney transplant. With
all that, I never heard Burns make one
complaint about the disease or its affect
on his physical well being. Burns was a
fighter and he lived a full life in spite of
his disease.
Until, suddenly, at age 65, Burns died.
There was no warning. We were planning
to play golf the next day. His death was a
shock and I still feel the loss.
In honor of Burns we changed the name
of the firm’s fall golf outing to “The
Mossman Cup”. The inaugural playing
of The Mossman Cup provided an
unforgettable moment for me. We played
on a typical late fall day. The temperature
was mild, bordering on chilly, and the
sky was filled with clouds that were on
the move all day driven by a blustery
wind. Late in the round I found myself
on a steeply sloped green with a nearly
impossible nine foot downhill putt that
would break severely from left to right.
Under the gloomy sky and chilled by
the blustery wind, I said to my playing
partners, “I have no idea what to do
with this putt.” I gave the ball only a
light tap and expected it to run well past
the cup leaving at least one more putt
from the lower side of the hole to finish.
In fact, the ball started slowly down
the slope, made a turn to the right and
rolled directly into the center of the cup.
Immediately, the clouds broke open and a
bright sun appeared in a glorious display
of light. The appearance of the sun at that
moment was not a mere coincidence. It
represented, to me, a grinning smile from
Burns who had witnessed, and perhaps
participated in, the making of that
amazing putt. Death does not end the
influence of a good friend.
About the Author
R. Craig Shives has been a member of Plymouth Church since
2006. He is a graduate of Cornell College and The University
of Iowa College of Law. For forty years, as an employee benefits
attorney, Craig wrote long documents using long sentences full of
long words of technically complex significance. The documents were,
of course, very clear and meaningful. Today he is making amends by
writing short stories with shorter sentences.
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