by Patty Jo Sawvel

What does a man do when the love of his life and wife of 35 years dies?  This was the question that Jim King faced six years ago.

He had fallen in love with Kathryn Slife in band class.  She played the clarinet and he played the coronet.  To Jim, they harmonized beautifully.  Apparently, she agreed.  They became a couple, saving themselves for their wedding day 10 years later.

“Kathryn probably did not know what she was getting into,” Jim said with a laugh. “I had an entrepreneurial spirit and she moved all over the country with me.  We were together 24 hours a day.

The first bump in the road came when their only son, Brandon, was 10 years old.  Kathryn was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  However, the disease progressed slowly, which allowed Kathryn to fully enjoy motherhood and even welcome her granddaughter, Alex, 14 years ago.  It was really the last 5 years of her life that were tough.

“As she lost mobility, I built a craft room—her room of joy—onto our home.  Then, I started outsourcing my jobs so that I could be her fulltime caregiver,” Jim said slowly.

And, then she was gone.  Jim had left her bedside briefly and she passed away.  At that moment, their dreams died with her.

Jim could not bear to go in their house anymore, so he auctioned off their belongings and moved in with a friend who had recently lost his wife to cancer.  However, he did not stay there long.  As so often happens with long-term caregivers, Jim had neglected his own health.  Within two weeks, he was rushed into the emergency room.  An ulcer had literally separated his stomach from his intestines and he lingered at death’s door.  Surgery was successful, but five weeks later, Jim still had little will to live.

“I was so weak that I could not even walk.  But one day, Kathryn popped into my mind.  Instead of thinking of her loss, I thought of what she gave to me.  I remembered her strength and her will to live in the face of a disease that slowly robbed her of her life.  She inspired me to get well and to start giving to others,” Jim said with tears in his eyes.

Jim King joined the YMCA and worked himself back to good health.  Soon, he started volunteering—first at the Shepherd’s Center, and then with Duane Long’s help, he became a mentor at Glenn High School.  Next, Jim volunteered with the Downtown Council and the Kernersville Chamber of Commerce.  With a revived spirit, Jim King founded Purple Cow—a full service marketing company.  However, going back into business did not stop him from giving.  He and his staff continue to help several non-profits with their marketing needs.  The town of Kernersville responded by awarding Jim the 2011 Mae Kaney Service Award.

Through it all, he has learned a priceless secret.  “Now, I look at every day as a new pasture.  To me, that means that every day is full of new opportunities to help others and to experience life.”