By Robert W.H. Mish, III
About a year and a half ago, I drove to Richmond to attend Children’s Home Society’s Legacy event at the University of Richmond. It was a beautiful spring day for a drive from Lexington, and as I traveled east I thought about the kids in foster care who needed a home. I wanted to support CHS not only because one of my oldest and dearest friends works for the organization, but also because I had closely monitored the grand jury proceedings in Rockbridge County that heard evidence of the horrible abuse that too many children endure. I felt the check I had written and put in my pocket could help some of those children find new loving, permanent homes.
As it came time for the event to start the crowd began to quiet, music began to play and a young man with an amazing voice began to sing. As one who teaches theater at Washington and Lee, I immediately recognized the tune – it was “Someone Like You” from the musical, Jekyll and Hyde. It’s a powerful ballad about want and need but it’s sung by a rather unsavory and unsympathetic character. At first I thought it an odd choice for an event designed to benefit the children of Virginia, but within a few seconds the lyrics took me to a completely different place.
I peer through windows
Watch life go by
Dream of tomorrow
And wonder why
The past is holding me
Keeping life at bay
I wander lost in yesterday
Wanting to fly
But scared to try
But if someone like you
Found someone like me
Then suddenly
Nothing would ever be the same
My heart would take wing
And I’d feel so alive!
If someone like you
Found me!
So many secrets
I long to share
All I have needed
Is someone there
To help me see a world
I’ve never seen before
A love to open every door
To set me free
So I can soar;
If someone like you
Found someone like me
Then suddenly
Nothing would ever be the same
My heart would take wing
And I’d feel so alive!
If someone like you
Found me!
Well, I was a wreck. As I looked around the room and saw that I was far from the only one in tears, I realized I wanted to do more. So I reached in my pocket, tore up my check, and instead reached for my credit card. I knew that I wanted to become a monthly giver to CHS, so that each and every month I could feel like I was doing my small part to help young people open doors–letting them see worlds they had never seen before.
Please join me in supporting CHS, and please consider making your gift a monthly gift, a gift which will help sustain the great work CHS does not only every single month, but every single day.
—Robert W.H. Mish, III