I have always wanted to make a difference in the world. Maybe it was because as a little girl, my Hungarian grandfather told me that I was going to be a peacemaker. It wasn’t until I met my husband, Robert Muller, many years later that Grandpa’s vision became a true reality.
I met Robert, who had retired as Assistant Secretary General at the United Nations, at a conference for world leaders at the La Casa De Maria retreat center. He had traveled to Santa Barbara, from Costa Rica where he was Chancellor of the U.N. University for Peace, which he had co-founded with Costa Rican President Rodrigo Carazo Odio.
As a longtime Board member of La Casa De Maria, it was my pleasure to show Robert the Santa Barbara area. Robert had been a widower for several years and was twenty years older than I was. Therefore, in my mind, our excursions were merely a form of hospitality, a function of me playing gracious host to a visiting dignitary.
Yet very soon after meeting, it was apparent that “something” was going on between us. What exactly it was, I couldn’t say for sure, but my fellow retreat attendees noticed. “How come the two of you are always together?” they would ask.
They were right … something was happening; it was like Robert could read my heart. He saw my yearning to create a better world, and, more importantly, he saw my potential. This tireless advocate for peace knew who I was and provided me with a sense of possibility. It was like he unlocked all of the dreams and wisdom I had been accumulating throughout my life.
Although I had long said I would never remarry and hadn’t even taken the step of divorcing my first husband although we had been separated for years, suddenly I was faced with a decision. When Robert professed his love, time stopped. I had a decision to make and I knew it would be life-changing. It would mean leaving my public relations business, leaving Santa Barbara and my home, leaving everything to fully step into a new world and my role as a peacemaker with my husband-partner.
I made that decision and Robert and I traveled the world, working together for seventeen years. In 2010, Robert passed on the eve of the International Day of Peace and I was left to continue our work and support his legacy. It was in those years that I began to truly find my voice.
Today I feel more alive at age 80 than at any time in my life. I love my life and I am meeting the most incredible people, all working to make a difference in the world.
See Barbara's Peace Podcast here. Or listen on Spotify at BarbaraGaughenMuller.
Oh my, chance encounters are amazing! I taught in the Middle East for almost twenty years and met so many people working for what seems an impossible dream. But if the peace makers give up we are truly lost. I will be listening and sharing your podcasts!
ReplyDeleteSusan ... thanks for connecting with the group.
ReplyDeleteWhat an encouraging glimpse of a neighbor I have never met. Thank you for what you do and for your sharing here.
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