Preparing to do another funeral. This time we'll be in Wisconsin. I don't know how others deal with the loss of their best friend but I'm struggling. Had I known when I agreed to do the funeral that I would feel like this I probably would have declined. I got to thinking about it as I lay in bed awhile ago. How long have I known Richard?
I really can't remember when we met or how long ago it was. I remember that when we met I was happy when it happened. He was doing night security for the Crusaders encampment in Sturgis during the rally. I was camped there and working with the worship music team under the direction of Pastor Jerry Snowden. Mike Arnold was the Senior Pastor and I was in charge of my own congregation on the other side of South Dakota. I made the journey to Sturgis to do outreach to lost folks. I sort of fell into the piano player thing by God incident. I'd been doing the gig with the Crusaders since the 50th Anniversary of the Black Hills Motorcycle Rally. That was 1990, 27 years ago this last summer. Richard was taking a break during his walk about duties. Sitting by himself in the dark on top of a rock. There was another rock near by so I sat down and talked with him. Then I talked with him some more and we walked the camp together. That's how it began but I don't remember what year. I lived about half way between his home in Wisconsin and Sturgis. I told him to break his journey in half by staying with us the following year and he did. What followed was years of riding together, laughing about all sorts of stuff. Sharing meals was always a joy. Sardines from a can, T-Bones rare, venison, all enjoyed through the years with prayers of thanks for whatever we had to share. Holidays came and went, Birthdays too, always in touch every so often by phone or mail and then by E-Mail followed by Facebook as our lives unfolded before us. We grew older. We wrenched cycles together, built campfires, swapped stories and shared our lives. He was my 'go to' prayer partner and I was his. We were able to depend on each other for anything and I suppose that's why I'm doing his funeral. I am deeply honored by this one. I've done hundreds of funerals. This one is different. Perhaps it will be the last one I will ever do. I don't know. Only time will tell, but I know this for sure......I have never known the sadness of spirit that I feel tonight. It may dim with time but I doubt if it will ever go away. Maybe.....strike that......it was part of my Creator's plan for us to be bonded as we were for this time on earth we shared. I had lessons to learn and a faith to grow into. We both learned and we kept on growing. I still am and I know that my BFF now has all the answers we talked about all those years. "Remember, and in remembering leave no regrets that what has past, though gone was good." that and "It's Never Too Late To Live Happily Ever After" - So I'm sitting here thinking about life and how it seems to make sense some times and other times not so much. In Christ's Love, Preacher.
