Although life’s journey takes him far from his childhood home, Rick D. Niece, Ph.D., never forgets the people he meets and the lessons he learns as a young man growing up in picturesque DeGraff, Ohio, population 900. A small-town newspaper boy who becomes a lifelong educator himself, Dr. Niece is deeply touched by the endearing residents of DeGraff who shaped his youth—especially Bernie Jones. Confined to a wheelchair with severe cerebral palsy, Bernie becomes Rickie’s friend, inspiration and superhero, opening a world of compassion, trust and adventure to them both.

When he leaves DeGraff to attend Ohio State University, Rick promises Bernie that he will visit him again. Unfortunately, when Bernie’s parents pass away, Bernie disappears, too, taken in by a distant relative. Forty years later, Rick learns that his boyhood friend is living in a nursing home. Returning to Ohio, he visits the never-to-be-forgotten Bernie Jones of a childhood long past and a promise finally kept.

“Bernie, you’re the reason. You’re the reason I came back home…” –Chapter XXI, A Promise Finally Kept

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Growing up in picturesque DeGraff, Ohio, Rick D. Niece, Ph.D., was influenced by many endearing friends and neighbors who taught him the important life lessons that shaped his future. Considering himself a small-town boy who has maintained his small-town values, Dr. Niece shares his carefully pocketed memories with fond nostalgia.
His professional expertise spanning more than 40 years, Niece has served as a classroom teacher, a public school administrator and a university professor, provost and president. Since 1997, he and his wife, Sherée, have served as President and First Lady of the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas, where they are the proud “parents” of 630 students.