We are proud of Billy Shore; entrepreneur and humanitarian
I think Billy’s enterprise, Share Our Strength, is pretty well known now.
Billy’s mother, Bryna, and my mother were first cousins. But as I like to keep saying: these first cousins were more like siblings. They all lived together while growing up in Woods Run.
Bryna had a big heart and she was full of love for us all. I know that she loved me intensely. I was the first born to that generation AND I was a girl so, again, as I like to say: I was drawn into the center of our female clan with celebration. I would sometimes talk for an hour on the phone with “Cousin Bryna;” we were instructed to call our adult cousins that as a sign of respect. Of all the women, Bryna was the funniest. I loved to sit and listen to her tell stories about the family. Of course I remember all of them.
I must add that Bryna’s husband, Nate Shore, was a wonderful man who made sure everybody was comfortable and all needs were met. I loved him too. He had a really funny way of answering the phone. When the phone rang he’d pick it up and say: “Nnnyelloww.”
Maxine and I laughed a lot about that. But we laughed a lot all the time. On to Billy’s story.
From Billy’s childhood it was apparent that he was thoughtful beyond his years. Not only interested in the community, he was interested in helping the world. My mother told me this. When Billy was about 12, I think, he was reading a magazine and he found one of those advertisements for impoverished children that said something like: “Please do not turn this page. You can help feed a hungry child for $5.00 a month.” So Billy did not turn the page. He asked his parents’ help in order to do this. No surprise there when you consider what he’s accomplished.
Later, as a teenager, he asked Bryna if he could “disappear for a day.” Instead of informing his parents where he was going and when, he wanted a day for himself, just to ride the 61 bus, look at Pittsburgh flying by, and explore. I think they let him do this.
Finally, I have a special regard for Billy. When Maxine died, I wanted to speak at the funeral but since I have a speech impediment I was really scared. I was afraid my speech would not be fluent and I’d embarrass myself, although Maxine would not have cared. I knew that I would hate myself for the rest of my life if I gave in to fear so I wrote a very short speech, stood up, and read it. At the end my voice cracked a little because I was going to cry but I was proud of myself. What does this have to with Billy? As I came down from the podium Billy stood up to give his speech, and he hugged me. Wow. There are hugs you get sometimes that last forever and that was one of them.
lgmwriting 