A Special Neighbor

When I moved to TN, they were our neighbors. He was the pastor of the church my aunt & uncle (parents now) attended. When my sisters all had the chicken pox at the same time (thanks to me bringing them home from kindergarten), these neighbors welcomed me into their home one Sunday afternoon. That is the first time I remember having pork chops. They came to most of our birthday dinners. They could keep us children on our seat's edge telling Sunday School Charlie and other flannelgraph stories. When Papa died, we were whisked up to their house. The day President Reagan was shot, we got off the bus at their house. Even though they weren't official family members, we called them Uncle Guy & Aunt Evelyn.

We girls started joining the all girl youth group at church. After we bemoaned (I'm sure several times) the fact there were no boys in the youth group, our wonderful youth leader helped us organize a Valentine's dinner. We were supposed to invite a boy from school to attend. But when it came down to the fact, I think we were all a little scared. So who came as my date - Uncle Guy.

One summer (during our college years) Mom & Dad went out for the evening. We girls were at the house by ourselves. It was a hot night. Since we didn't have any kind of central air in our home, we girls had the windows raised & the doors open to let the breeze in. All of a sudden, there was a knock at the door. We quickly shut all doors and windows & turned off all music and lights. Locking ourselves into the downstairs bathroom, we called Uncle Guy. He immediately came down to the house and saved us from the drunk (& his dog) who had run out of gas.

When John & I were married, Uncle Guy officiated our wedding.


When we came on as staff, Uncle Guy and Aunt Evelyn welcomed us. We shared meals with them every week as I was learning the ropes of the bookwork. Those were special times.

Uncle Guy's death this past weekend was quiet. It did not make the news. Even though the world doesn't know (and probably doesn't care), he had an impact on the world. The boys and girls with whom he shared Christ's love are now sharing that love with others.

Uncle Guy, we love you and will miss you. Thank you for sharing your life and Christ's love with us.