A Parting Gift

When 17-year-old Josh Bell meets 84-year-old William Davis, an unusual friendship develops between the old man in the last months of his life and a young boy unsure of his future and place in the world. Enlisted to help Davis write his memoir, Josh learns lessons of life, love, and friendship.

When 17-year-old Josh Bell meets 84-year-old William Davis, an unusual friendship develops between the old man in the last months of his life and the young boy unsure of his future and his place in the world. Enlisted to help Mr. Davis write his memoir, Josh quickly realizes that any help he offers is trivial compared to the insight and wisdom the old man gives to him. Throughout the old man's reminiscences and the colorful tales of times past, Josh learns lessons about life, love, and friendship that he will carry with him forever. Beautifully evoking small town life, "A Parting Gift" explores such fundamental questions as: Why am I here? How should I live my life? is there a God? In the young man's earnest searching, and in the elderly man's reflections, the novel bears witness to the timelessness of certain truths -- and their power to move us still.