As the days move into the Christmas 2018 season, those who were lucky enough to meet, laugh, and talk with Mr. Paul Williams share one common investment, the opportunity he gave for many to change their life.  This might sound a little drastic, exaggerated, overstated, but if you truly allowed yourself time to capture the moments Mr. Williams shared, you know this to be true.

Being completely off guard and normally not able to be considered for a librarian position at ASF as I was not finished with my in-progress degree, many, many aspects should have never allowed me to be able to accept such a positon.

Being able to receive a position at The American School Foundation in Mexico changed my life.  In all ways.  The way I view others, the way I accept others, the way I taught, the way I learned what sacrifice is, was, and continues to be, and I became a completely different person.  This will always, always stay with me, and allowed me to meet individuals that continued to change my life through the entire 6 year period at ASF.  I met people visited places, and realized so many different aspects about myself, other countries from the outside of the United States, and respected myself and others so much more than I ever had before, there is no way you can even mention the word priceless to describe that gift.

The evenings of the newest play or musical, the Christmas parties, the holiday sweaters, the end of year parties, the Krispy Kreme hats and welcome after a loooong lock in, children that would come up and hug Mr. Williams, the patience he kept when the ASF bear happened to sit on his lap, the representation of simply being a human being that shared himself with so many people.  

Few individuals in my life have ever pushed me every day to get up on my worst, and even best days and keep going when it seems impossible.  The window that Mr. Williams provided me was life changing, and the individuals I met thereafter continued to be the gifts he provided to me as a result of being accepted into an amazing ASF community.  There was no other matter of fact realizations about Mr. Williams, accept he gave his all when he could, which was almost every time you ran into him.  My heart aches for the loss of Mr. Williams, as it does for the hundreds upon hundreds of individuals that feel the same way, and my heart rejoices for the gifts he visibly has given those hundred upon hundreds of individuals at the same time. Without a doubt, Mr. Paul Williams provided each of us a season of renewal and sense of responsibility to give back the very way we would like to be given, the very way he gave to each of us.  Mr. Paul Williams, you love and the season of who we are will always be visible no matter where we find ourselves.  Thank you for that eternal gift.