Richard C. Edgley shared: “In 1955, after my freshman year of college, I spent the summer working at the newly opened Jackson Lake Lodge, located in Moran, Wyoming. My mode of transportation was a 14 year old 1941 Hudson automobile that should have received its burial 10 years earlier. Among the car’s other identifying traits, the floorboards had rusted so badly that, if not for apiece of plywood, I could have literally dragged my feet on the highway. . . .
After the miracle of [driving the 185 miles (289 km) to my] home, my father came out and happily greeted me. After a hug and a few pleasantries, he looked into the back seat of the car and saw three Jackson Lake Lodge towels—the kind you cannot buy. With a disappointed look he merely said, “I expected more of you.” I hadn’t thought that what I had done was all that wrong. To me these towels were but a symbol of a full summer’s work at a luxury hotel, a rite of passage. Nevertheless, by taking them I felt I had lost the trust and confidence of my father, and I was devastated.
The following weekend I adjusted the plywood floorboard in my car. . . . and began the 370-mile (595-km) round trip back to Jackson Lake lodge to return the three towels. My father never asked why I was returning to the lodge, and I never explained. It just didn’t need to be said. This was an expensive and painful lesson on honesty that stayed with me throughout my life. ~Bishop Richard C. Edgley, as quoted from Neil Anderson’s “The Divine Gift of Forgiveness” (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book, 2019). 32-33
