Steve's Journey

I'm not sure if best friends are hard to come by; I've only had three. And one remains. I had a best friend in high school, who also was my best man at my wedding. After I got married, Lois soon became my best friend. That friendship has been tested over the years (mostly by the immature male in the family), but has survived the test. True friendship isn't really true unless it is tested. A true friend may smack you (hopefully figuratively speaking), but will never give up on you.

Bob C. was a true friend. He and his family (wife and two sons) started attending the Chapel, and I can't remember where our personal relationship started. That may be how true friendship begins; you are just drawn to each other. We began to do more things together individually, not necessarily as families, maybe because their boys and our girls were too young to like each other as play-friends. But Bob and I got to know each other so well that each could tell what the other was thinking --- in most cases.

We would attend chapel functions together, even at times when our wives and children would stay home. He would help me fix my car sometimes. Actually, he would work on my car while I held the light and fetched tools. And along the way we would discuss many spiritual matters. After Sunday mornings in the worship meetings when individual men would stand up to speak (the women were to remain silent), Bob and I would analyze what was said and look at the Bible to see if we got similar interpretations. We didn't always agree on Biblical verses or their meanings, and we differed some on how to raise our children, but at no time did it ever occur to us that our friendship might be in jeopardy. We were close.

Bob was also the sound-man at the Chapel. He handled the microphones, taped accompaniment for specials and prepared sermon tapes for shut-ins. He was especially helpful to me when I conducted children's musicals. I remember one Christmas special that had a particularly difficult part on the soundtrack. I was very attentive to detail, and I would not use musical accompaniment that had children's voices on the track. I wanted the congregation to hear our kids, who had terrific voices (most of them). The difficult song was a rendition of Jingle Bells that began with nothing more than a rhythmic ringing of reindeer bells. At a point so many measures into the ringing the children were to begin to sing while the bells continued to ring the same way. If all went well, the orchestral accompaniment would come in at the right place. If I started the children too soon or too late, it meant disaster for the rest of the song.

In order to ensure the correct entry point Bob and I spent at least two hours playing the introduction over and over, counting measures, listening for any hint of when the song would start. We would jump in singing, only to find that we had started at the wrong place. For the umpteenth time of listening to the intro, one of us noticed (I don't remember who got the credit for it) a quick, high-pitched ching ching sound, signaling that the next measure was where the children would come in. We tried it, and it worked every time. Success!

The Chapel also did an annual dinner and stand-up comedy/skits for adults just before Christmas. I did a few gigs by myself. They thought I was hilarious, but Lois failed to see the humor. I even got my dad involved in one program, where he played his harmonica, including the world's smallest (I think). Bob and I began to develop our own routines later on. He was a terrific straight man.

I could always count on Bob in a pinch. Once, when I was treasurer, I was down to the deadline on producing a budget statement for the Chapel. I was really struggling with getting some accounts to balance out. And to make matters worse, I was on an all night assignment at Lockheed Martin, preparing a slide show for a top manager to present at the corporate offices up north. Bob made me promise to call him whenever I got done with the assignment --- no matter what time --- and he would meet me at the Chapel and help me find the anomaly. I called him at 4:00 AM. He met me there. I made coffee. We found the error(s), and I typed the budget (no desktops or laptops then). We had a great time.

My family and I moved away to take a job here in Tennessee, and I only saw Bob one more time when they came to visit us in the mountains. The reunion was wonderful. And I haven't seen or heard from him since.

A prominent part of my current belief system is that we will all be reunited in eternity as part of God's perfect plan. I don't know if Bob is already there, but I'm sure looking forward to seeing him again.