Chris was one of the rotating cast that greeted folks as they entered the church.
Enthusiastically, he'd say to one and all, "Welcome home, welcome home!"
And so, before Danny Beam was to offer his remarks about his long-time friendship with this upbeat fellow, our pastor was giving his regards.
Billy had just gotten to the part about God welcoming Chris with those same words of greeting that the now-departed used...
and, in the stillness, a voice rang out...
"Sweet home, Alabama, where skies are blue..."
and we all had a good laugh!
The man who had so loved a good joke seemed to have had one last laugh with us!
Billy even asked Danny if he had arranged for that cell phone to go off right then.
Danny said, "I sure wish I had!"
Then, when it was his turn at the microphone, he took the piano instead of the stage, to riff a few bars of the song with a little rephrasing:
"Sweet home up in heaven, where the skies are always blue..."
Beautiful.
And why was I there?
Well, partly it was because the man was just a year older than me when a stroke killed him.
Another reason was that Billy had included me in the news of Fahey's death on Saturday; that was the night I had volunteered for parking lot patrol, so I was there when Billy had come from the hospital to see "The Christians".
Then, there was Chris' turning lemons into lemonade: after he lost his job a few years ago, he went to college to pursue his dream of becoming a nurse, and made it real.
He wasn't one of my students, but he embodied a lesson I always tell: there is no age limit on going to college.
I'm glad I stayed around afterward.
One of the nurses from my adventure in Italy - ten years ago - was there and she recognized me and came over.
Kate Strickland and I are going to lunch some Wednesday in the coming weeks!
She, like me, has tired of seeing people only via fb.
Good for her!
And good for me, too.
(smile!)
Right place, right time.
i thank You, God.
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