Edna (Vineyard) Quillin's Potbelly Stove

 The Greatest Gift Turned Out To Be Robert "Bob" Haskell Quillen

Being an older person now myself, I can better understand why Bob always wanted to meet me. In our later years, there are things we say that we are ‘going’ to do…and then it becomes too late. He urged me so many times, and in every Christmas card, he reiterated how important it was for me to come to Bristol so that he could show me around the ‘old’ homestead. I could never visualize that as a young person…going to see what seemed to be a stranger. But Bob had already embraced me as family. He wanted VERY much for Derek and me to come for a visit.

Then one day, Bob totally surprised me. He phoned and said that he and Barbara, his wife, were coming on a tour through the Hill Country of Texas. I was shocked and didn’t know exactly what to do or how I would arrange a visit with him. Since he was touring with a company, we decided that Derek and I would go out on a Saturday morning to the hotel where they would be lodging for a couple of nights.

He embraced me from the ‘get-go’. He was an example of kindness and acceptance. It was a great lesson in humility for me, learning how to accept others. I totally misjudged him, viewing him more as a stranger than as a cousin. I practiced too much caution and less acceptance. I knew immediately when I laid eyes on him and Barbara how badly I missed the mark.  

Bob was so excited about his trip to Texas. It felt as though the trip was centered around the opportunity to meet me, as he would later say, “Where are the hills?” Being from Bristol, Virginia, bounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains on one side and the Appalachians on the other, these were not even hills. He presented me with a gift. I was stunned! Bob had gone out to the old homestead and picked up the door of Edna’s potbelly stove. He had mounted it on wood to hang on the wall. This symbolic gesture serves as a reminder to me of how to accept others. I cherish the little time I had with Bob and Barbara, and yes, I look back and wish that I had taken the time to journey back to the old homestead.