REFLECTIONS

Fond Farewell

“If I never see you again, I want you to know, it’s been a heck of a ride,” Joe said to me. Then with a twinkle in his eye he said, “My children fuss at me for saying things like that, but I would rather say it than to later regret that I hadn’t.”

It was his fond farewell just in case something happened between then and the next time we met. But the story begins when the roads three couples traveled through life once intersected at a small church. Their roads ran parallel for a while to create a bond that endured until the roads narrowed and the lives of the travelers, one-by-one, reached their ultimate destination.

During those years, the fast friends, George and Louisa, Joe and Jane, and Richard and Janice, built their careers and reared children while sharing the challenge of getting by on what little they had. Whatever the hardship, they had each other to help keep all in good cheer. They played together, ate together, celebrated together, grieved together, watched their children grow, and they worshipped together. And it was during that early time that they came together to celebrate Christmastime each year. Christmastime dinners became an annual tradition they celebrated together for more than 50 love-filled years.

Through the years their roads drifted in different directions, to cross paths with different friends and experience different interests. But those roads circled back from time to time to intersect once again to share all they learned from their travels and to remember the intersection that formed their lives and laid a foundation that will endure until their roads lead them Home.

George’s big heart played out first. Two years later, Jane lost her long fight with cancer. Joe lived on for 11 years without his beloved Jane before his body weakened and he declared himself ready to meet his Lord. He experienced his final thrill, reaped the fruits of his labor and finished his race when his three children gathered around him to say I love you, and for them to feel his love emanate through their souls.

But when the pavement runs out on this life, expect their roads to converge again at an Intersection that will be their ultimate destination. Without each other, none of them might have made it there.

Yes, Joe. It was a heck of a ride. We’ll see you on the other side.

“You are the light of the world,”

Richard +

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