Hey God, can you make us another Barbara Osborne?

On Monday, November 20, 2023, Barbara Osborne passed away. My friend, Bruce Bowen, called to tell me.

Bruce and I, like many others, had the privilege to work with Barbara at Hermitage High School. At Hermitage, Barbara was one of our essential and critical employees. She did the behind the scenes work to keep the school running.

Another Hermitage High School colleague, David Howe, reminded me that at one time, Barbara was the study hall czar. She organized and kept tabs on the students who were assigned to a study hall during the course of a school day. That was one tough job.

I also seem to recall that Barbara had something to do with the attendance office. Another nightmare of a job that required perfect record keeping and lots of interaction with parents and their students.
At some point, Barbara found what I believe was her permanent home in the school’s Guidance Department. Again, she was a keeper of records, this time those academic records for each student.

These records have traveled with a student from kindergarten to his/her current grade level. In working with these documents, Barbara had to know school system policies, state board of education protocols, and federal guidelines related to privacy.

She was the pivot point as the registrar for preparing and providing transcript requests made by students for college applications, employment, and military enlistments

One thing is very clear, no matter where Barbara Osborne served at Hermitage High School, she served with distinction, and grace, and dignity.

On the evening of Friday, February 23, I had the privilege of attending Barbara’s visitation at North Run Baptist Church. I viewed with interest tables holding photographs of Barbara, her late, beloved husband of sixty eight years, Bob, and their family. Those photographs captured the stories of their lives.

Those cherished photographs present happy faces. The photographs don’t captured the ups and downs, the sacrifices, and the hard, hard work it takes to sustain a family, but Barbara and Bob persevered. No matter what life tossed at them, they survived for this family.

During the visitation on Friday evening, I was able to interact with friends, family members, and two of Barbara’s three children. I wanted them to know that Barbara was one of the best human beings that God ever made. And I meant what I said—best human beings that God ever made.

In April of 1972, singer/songwriter, Neil Young, scored a hit record with a song he wrote titled “Heart of Gold.” In the song, Young writes about searching for a heart of gold.

Well, if Mr. Young had ever met Barbara Osborne, his search for a heart of gold would have come to an end.

I’m convinced that is why Barbara Osborne was such a special human being—she possessed a heart of gold.

In all of my years of working with her, I never heard a complaint, or an unkind word. If something went wrong(which it rarely did), Barbara took responsibility and learned.

Barbara was a people person.

No matter the setting, she knew the importance of attentive listening, and undoubtedly, she understood the significance for building relationships. A heart of gold allows a person to listen and build relationships.

In looking at those family photographs, it is also clear to me that everything Barbara and Bob did for each other, their families, and friends in the community was grounded in love.

And to be honest, I know Barbara wasn’t perfect. I’m sure she had some meltdowns. She’s human and not immune from imperfections, but I never saw those moments.

Scattered throughout the Bible are numerous verses of scripture related to love and prayer. My hunch is “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” and “rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer” formed the core of her daily walk through life.

Our missing of Barbara Osborne started on November 20, and hey God, that is why we need you to make us another Barbara Osborne.

But the truth be told God, we need you to make more than one of Barbara. The world would become a kinder and gentler place if we could share her with this conflicted world.

And at this very moment, this old world sure could use Barbara’s heart of gold.