Losing a friend

We lost a friend a few weeks ago, just before Christmas.

In our old home, we attended a small church for many, many years. One of the families attending that church had two sons almost the exact same age as our girls. The children became fast friends and grew up together.

Because this family lived in one town and we lived outside another, we would often meet at the “halfway point” (as we called it) to swap kids whenever our children had a play date.

The parents of these kids were highly respected in town. The mother recently retired after teaching math at the high school for decades, and her students loved her. The father (Randy) worked at a local hardware store, and he was the go-to guy whenever a customer had a technical question. It’s hard to describe how well-liked both people are in the community. Even after moving away three years ago, our kids kept in touch with their kids.

Randy passed away on December 15 after an illness lasting several months. We were stunned.

The older son asked Older Daughter if she could house-sit their pets for a few days while he and his wife attended his dad’s memorial service. After returning from the trip, the son described the circumstances. Apparently our old church (where the memorial service was held) was standing-room only. The store where he worked for 20+ years closed for half a day so all employees could attend.

It’s tragic beyond words that our friend passed at a relatively young age (66 years old), but there is comfort in knowing how well loved he was. Through years of humble service and absolute dedication to his family, he earned the love and respect of everyone.

Really, when you think about it, there is no finer epitaph.

Rest in pace, Randy. You are missed.