Old friends

George King and Dick Bilinsky didn’t know each other until they and their wives moved into Concordia Village around the same time in 2023. The couples happened to join each other at dinner one night and, as George says, “We just clicked.” Bilinsky adds, “I knew we were going to be friends when George revealed he’d dabbled in poetry and then regaled us with his dialects.” Bilinsky, too, had written poetry over the years. 

The two started meeting in the atrium at Concordia every Wednesday, sharing their lives. They discovered connections – King had worked in New York and Bilinsky had grown up there. They are both artists – King paints pastel works and Bilinsky is a sculptor. Bilinsky says, “We talked about problems of the world, art, politics, how to make life better at Concordia and started writing poems.” People would stop and talk. The duo sometimes drew a crowd, and many teasingly asked, “What mischief are you two up to now?”

They had so many poems they decided to publish them in a book they titled, Serendipity, which describes the way the two happened to meet. The proceeds from the book went to help support the Concordia Art program. Recently, they have published a second book, Concordia Village: Life and Times in Rhyme.

Greta Huseman, director of community enrichment at Concordia, says, “The book is now given to new residents in their welcome bag.”

The poems are witty, poignant, thought-provoking and range in subject matter. There are comments about staff at Concordia, as in the poem, Whistling Chef, that reads “Cheers to Stephane, our great chef/Who whistles in all kinds of clef.” Or the poem Wonderful Waitpersons, who “bring our daily bread, serve our vital vittles and napkins to blot our spittles.” There are poems about the incessant geese hanging around the complex, views of life looking out the windows, comments on aging (calling life a game of pick-up-sticks), and accepting new realities.

Compression Hose

“I’ve not experienced as stifling woes,

As those from my compression hose.

Once they’re on, well, that’s OK.

But getting there I have to say

Is just akin to reasoning with teens

Or putting on some very tight jeans.”

King is a retired public relations and marketing executive. Bilinsky is a retired nephrologist. Their story proves that new horizons are possible at every stage of life. 

For the men, life is still full. King says, “You never know what might light up someone. People can be in the doldrums, but something might trigger them to get engaged. That is true here at Concordia. There are so many things to do, it would be hard to be a hermit. Our apartment looks out over Meadowbrook and the Casey’s Pub, and you realize there is still life out there.”

Bilinsky says, “I never expected to find someone who has so many things in common with me. It has been refreshing, and we just keep writing.” 

Some might think the door is shutting as age sets in, but it is always ready to be reopened. George King and Dick Bilinsky are proof of that.  

Cinda Ackerman Klickna has known George King for many years during the time he was the communication director at the Illinois Education Association.

This article appears in December 11-17, 2025.