Remembering G.W.

Today, it has been one year since my good friend G.W. passed away.

Most of ya'll know most of this story but some of you might not.Today I want like to take a minute to remember G.W. and reflect a little bit on some of the things I know now... one year later...because of him. This might get long-but it is a story that needs to be told and remembered.

I guess I met G.W. when I was in the first-grade. His wife passed away just before I met him and from what I understand, she was a wonderful woman. I know G.W. loved and missed her a lot and he would pull out pictures and show them to me every chance he got.

Somehow, through the years, it got to be my "thing" where I would make sure to go hug G.W. as soon as I walked in to church. Sometimes he would sit with us and sometimes we would stop by his house and visit with him and sometimes, on occasion, he would come out to eat with us. He even came to my dad's 50th Birthday extravaganza.

When I was about 14 and decided to give my life to the Lord, I knew that I wanted G.W. to baptize me. I didn't realize then how much that meant to him... or to me.

Flash-forward through 11 years of hugs at church, visits to his house, talking on the phone, visiting him in and out of hospital visits, and tons of cards. You see, G.W. sent me an encouraging card almost every week for 11 years.

There is something I haven't told you about G.W. though. He had cancer. Terrible cancer that he struggled with for years and years. Cancer that left him and came right back. Through all of this though, his faith remained stronger than it ever was before.

I remember I was home from college one Sunday at church and he sat with my family. We sang When We All Get to Heaven and G.W. belted that song out with all of his heart. I couldn't even sing because I realized at that very moment that G.W. was ready to go home. He was ready to see his wife. He believed in Jesus and knew that there were greater things ahead. He wasn't afraid for his time on earth to end. It made me think about a phrase G.W. had told me time and time again-the Lord said he would take care of you.

After Seth and I got engaged and knew we would be moving to Atlanta, G.W. was seriously worried sick-as we say in the South. He worried about me doing all that driving, and not knowing anybody, and being so far away from home.

He was also worried he wouldn't be able to make it to the wedding because of his cancer. He never explicitly told me this but I knew he was sick. I guess, thinking back, I did but I didn't if that makes sense. He told me how much he wanted to be there and his daughter, Mona told me how much he wanted to be there but I knew he might not make it because of the cancer. I'll never forget -right before the wedding started- him coming in that back room and giving me the biggest hug. He looked at me and said, "Kaci-I wouldn't miss it!" We took this picture that day.

Flash-forward to July of 2009. I knew he was getting sicker. I could tell on the phone. The words in his cards got shorter and shorter-but they still came. My dad called me on a Tuesday and said that I might want to come home earlier than I had planned and I am so glad I did. I checked the mail on Wednesday before I left and sure enough-there was a card from G.W. It was a hot pink card about friendship. It had this verse written inside:
You have a very special place in my heart.
We have shared together the blessings of God.
Philippians 1:7
G.W. underlined the phrase: You have a very special place in my heart.

That was the last card I ever got from G.W.  He passed away that Monday. I was in the hospital room. I held one hand and Mona held the other. I witnessed a man who loved the Lord go home. He had no fear. He knew there were better things ahead for him.

I've thought about that very moment a lot over the last year. I thought about how I can relate that experience to my own life. My dad led the final prayer at G.W's funeral and said the perfect words that summed up his life. I can't remember all of it but I remember that it ended somewhere along the line that G.W. made a choice a long time ago. A choice to live his life for the Lord. I have thought about that a lot over the last year as well. A choice. A choice we all get to make. In the end, we can all have the peace G.W. had.

I don't really know where to end this. There is so much more I want to say. The bluebird of happiness, G.W. being a firefighter, becoming good friends with Mona, visiting with G.W. for the last time before he went to the hospital and the hug he gave me from the bed when he couldn't get up, being involved in planning the funeral, Mona asking me if there was a song I would like for the congregation to sing at his funeral... can you guess what I chose? That's right. When We All Get to Heaven. And just like before, G.W. was in my mind during that song. Only this time, I fought back the tears and sang. I could sing it like I meant it-because I did.

So now you know a few pieces of G.W.'s story. Thanks for listening and helping me remember him today.