The value of serving others
COEUR d'ALENE — Nita Robson has invested her second chance at life in helping those in need.
"But, at the age of 51, how many people can say they found their purpose?" Robson said. "I really know what my purpose is — I don't even have to question it."
Robson, a longtime resident of Coeur d'Alene, spent 18 years working as a project manager for an electrical engineering firm. It was a lucrative career, she said, until marital problems caused her to retire and head down a dark path filled with depression and alcohol.
"I woke up one day and I was literally all alone," Robson said. "I had a nice house and I had money, but I had nobody. There was nobody left."
Things began to change for Robson when she met pastor Tim Remington of The Altar Church of Coeur d'Alene. Remington is the director of Good Samaritan, a faith-based rehabilitation center, and encouraged Robson to enter the program.
She completed the four month program but found she was still depressed and contemplating suicide. So Robson went back for another four months of rehab, where something changed in her.
While at Good Samaritan the second time, Robson said she discovered the power of serving others.
"My whole life changed," Robson said. "It was really amazing the way it all works — I realized that one of the things you can do to get yourself out of your own funk is volunteering."
Robson still is an active volunteer: Serving at the soup kitchen, volunteers with Good Samaritan and the connected Discipleship House, and mentoring women.
She added she encourages young people to volunteer as much as possible by telling them of the value serving others has in her own life.
If she ever gets overwhelmed, Robson said, she has solid friends who help take some of the items off her plate. But she has no plans to stop answering the call to serve and living her purpose.
"Wherever God puts me, wherever He needs me, is where I am," Robson said.
Service has also found its way into Robson's family life. She told The Press she takes care of her grandson, Liam, who has a kidney disease and will require a transplant when he is old enough to accept an adult kidney.
Her mother-in-law, Penelope, also receives constant care and support from Robson in Coeur d'Alene.
She flies to Arizona as much as possible to help take care of her granddaughter, Bella — a 12-year-old who has type 1 diabetes, alopecia, thyroid disease, and APS 2. Robson described her granddaughter as a lively girl who is sensitive about her condition, but doesn't let the severity of her diagnoses stop her from living a normal life.
"At 11, she earned her way academically into college-prep classes," Robson said. "When they told her she couldn't go to school anymore, she went to the board meeting and said 'I earned the right to a fair education.' She's standing up for her education."
Bella is unable to attend school due to her illnesses and with that in mind, Robson created a local fundraiser for her granddaughter. On Sunday, Nov. 15, at The Altar Church in Coeur d'Alene, Robson will host a spaghetti dinner and auction, with all of the proceeds going to help provide things like a computer so her loving granddaughter can get her education.
"She puts on a smile when she's really got tears in her eyes," Robson said about Bella. "That's the hardest thing to see."
The fundraiser begins at 4 p.m., more information is available on Facebook, at http://on.fb.me/1QkUjbL. If you have any questions about the event, contact Robson at (208) 277-5689 or by email at nita.robson@yahoo.com.