When I first moved to Seattle two years ago, my grandfather,
a retired American Baptist pastor, told me two of his and my grandmother’s
friends from college were here, Jim Rowland, and Jerri Bottomly. When I started looking for a church
community and found Seattle First Baptist online, I had a feeling this was the
place where my grandparents’ friends would be. My parents confirmed my suspicions, and told me how my
grandfather still had multiple copies of dozens of sermons by Rod Romney that
Jerri had sent my grandmother over the years.
I first met Jerri in Fellowship Hall while she was busy
serving coffee. As soon as she
learned who I was, she exclaimed, “You’re Donna Beth’s granddaughter, I want to
know all about you!” The feeling
was very mutual.
Despite the generation gap, Jerri treated me like a
friend. She took me to lunch many
times and asked me all about my life and told me all about hers. I immediately loved Jerri’s honest and
open nature. She told me the
stories about my grandmother I hadn’t heard anywhere else. Stories of living with my grandmother
and other Round Robin friends, as they call themselves, in college. She joked with me that she was one of
the catalysts for my grandparents’ relationship, that she’s part of the reason
I am here today. We traded poems,
stories, and other pieces of writings about my grandmother.
I told her I was thinking about joining the church. “I’ll be your sponsor when you do!” she
said. It wasn’t a choice, but it
didn’t need to be.
When I think of Jerri, I will think of bright and bold
colors. I will think of how loving
and supportive she was. I will
think of a positive, beautiful spirit.
I’m so grateful for her friendship and the opportunity to have her in my
life these past two years.
