Fare Well to Roger

I seldom see the local newspaper unless it is Saturday or Sunday as I am usually in too much of a hurry to read. Sometimes my wife will lay something out for me to read, but usually not very often. This weekend I noticed that a former acquaintance from years ago had died at the age of 61. The first thought in my mind was that he was a year younger than me. An then I begin thinking about how our lives crossed and then each of us went our own separate ways.

We first met at our church youth functions, both of us attended the Evangelical United Brethren church in Bloomington. Since then the church has changed names and many of the people I remember have transferred their membership to other local churches. It seems almost strange to say we met at a youth group as we are now older than our parents were when we met. Roger and I were never close friends, rather his younger brother and I actually spent more time together. One of his older sisters was in my class at school and two of his older brothers were were well know to me as Ed was a friend of my neighbor and Bill was often seen riding his bike all over Bloomington-Normal. I don't think Bill ever learned to drive so even as he neared 50 he would be seen on his bike.

Our youth group was very active and included guys and girls numbering anywhere from 25-50 at any event. It was from the youth group that we drew our friends as opposed to our school mates as we had a common interest. After high school we all went our separate ways and seldom have we seen each other since. I did become reacquainted with Roger about 10 years ago as he visited the church I was attending for a brief period of time and then he chose somewhere else to worship and we no longer had any contact.

It is a shame that in this fast paced world of which we live, we no longer take the time to stay in contact with those who have crossed our path as we are consumed with the present needs and desires. The truth is that even our closest friends and family do not hear from us as much as they deserve.

On another note, the Georgia Peach is getting new ear tubes which will hopefully help to keep her more healthy. Her daddy is now swamped in work as he now is the boss for his regional distribution center. The Christmas season is the peak time for his center. Congratulations Steve on your well deserved promotion!