D is for Delight

Wednesday, August 05, 2015

D is for Delight

Delight M. Irwin, named after her mother's friend, comes by her name honestly. Indeed, spending time with her is delightful. Born in California and raised in rural Wisconsin, Delight came to Greensboro as an assistant professor at UNCG in 1978- thinking she would stay a mere 5-7 years. Thirty-seven years later, she is still here. Delight fell in love with Greensboro's sense of community service; noticing many organizations and people doing good things for one another, the community, and the world. She also likes having five institutions of higher education in the area and all of the activities, classes, and events they offer.

Always a person of great spirituality, Delight (also known as Dee) retired from academia and established Healing Ground, a spiritual retreat in Summerfield. In 2000, after her own bout with cancer, Dee opened the property to others in need of a place for quiet time and healing. Some visitors come with their own programs and leaders; others rely on Dee to guide them on their spiritual journey. She is known as a deep listener, helping people find answers within themselves. Dee has started scaling back on organized commitments. Recently, she retired from her position as Dean of the Servant Leadership School at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. She has also retired from ten years of co-leading spiritual pilgrimages, to Iona, Chartres, the Pacific Northwest, and beyond. Having followed in the footsteps of Mary Magdalene, made Celtic spirit pilgrimages, and taken many other sacred journeys, Dee is spending more time with friends and loved ones, nurturing the beauty around her. As seen in the above photo, she is surrounded by beauty.

Today is ABC Wednesday and for our A-Z People of Greensboro series, "D" is for Delight! Below, a page from Dee's birthday book provides additional insight into the special person featured today. If interested, see Healing Ground's website, here. While today's post features Dee, it should be made clear that Healing Ground is co-owned and has always been a joint venture with the equally-delightful Pat Bailey! We hope to feature Pat on GDP soon.