One of the worst things that has happened to us as a society over the past few years is a loss of personal fellowship with each other. A number of factors have contributed to that demise. But two events have happened of late that brought these things to my full attention. Both of them having to do with the untimely death of two friends.
I guess you could say this guy was as good a friend as a fellow could have. We started first grade together, graduated high school together 12 years later, went to what was then Southern State College for four years, and then went off to the University of Arkansas where we were roommates. When we were in high school and later SSC, he worked at Jim Rowe's Exxon, I worked at Mack's Truck Stop, then later at the Union Bus Station. We had much in common. We hunted deer together for years on his family's property, and his dad, Andy Murphy, was famous in and around Columbia County for his shooting ability. He taught many folks to shoot straight, and some of his shots were pretty unbelievable. I wouldn't have believed them myself had I not seen a couple of them with my own eyes. His son and my friend, Sam, wasn't half-bad himself.
Sam graduated from McNeil High School as the valedictorian, and was one of the most intelligent people I've ever known. But, and I don't mean this in a bad way, he would "argue with a fence post" as we used to say. And he was right 99% of the time, so you were better off conceding the point and moving on to the next subject. If you didn't, he was going to wear you out sooner or later anyway. More on that later. Sam had a college degree, but he also had a secret passion. He wanted to fly jet airplanes. That was something I knew he wanted to do, but kids from College Hill rarely got to be jet pilots.
Long story short, Sam joined the United States Air Force and became a jet pilot. Other than the birth of his children, I think the proudest day of his life was when he got his wings. On top of that, Sam's graduation from flight school was one of only a very few days his dad Andy ever took off work in his entire career. Sam flew the B-52 Stratofortress, the C-130 Hercules, and was a pilot instructor for a number of years. He risked his entire career trying to get me up in a T-38 jet fighter one time when my family visited he and his family in Columbus, Ms. He did get me in the simulator, and that was quite an experience.
The other event is one of those crazy coincidences in life. Or, if you believe in God, something entirely different. My wife and I were in Wal-Mart three weeks ago looking for a vacumn cleaner. Another lady was looking as well, and while we waited for a sales clerk to help us, we struck up a conversation. It didn't take long for me to discover that she was the wife of Danny Brazell, an old friend and acquaintance. She informed me that he was sick and in the hospital, so the next day I went there and visited with him for a couple of hours. We had a great discussion about old times, and we both recalled a school outing to Lake Greeson (we called it Narrows) back in the day. On that trip, Danny and Sam argued almost the entire five hours it took for us to get there and back on the bus. About how many grains of IMR-4831 powder one needed to use when reloading the .243 cartridge to give it optimum performance on a deer. I'm not kidding.
Danny admitted to me during the recent hospital visit that Sam was the only person he had ever known who could outargue him. There you have it, folks. That's something to be proud of…I think. In any event, it was great to get to visit with Danny after not seeing him for several years. We reminisced about working together at the truck stop, and how he was the one who told me about the opening at the bus station. He always claimed to be the one who got me that job. That made me laugh, and it would make you laugh to if you knew Joe Byrd.
I'm upset with myself for not keeping in touch with Danny over the years. And there really is no good excuse for my not doing so. He told me how much my visit meant to him, and that he was at peace with the Lord though he thought he had more time to be here. Now he's gone. He was supposed to call me when he felt better so we could get together and visit again, but he wasn't able to and we didn't.
The moral of the story is this. If you have some friends you haven't seen lately, go see them. The amount of time we waste watching television, interacting with social media, and busying ourselves with things that don't really matter in life is hurting us in ways we don't realize. My Christmas present to myself this year is to make sure I visit with old friends and family who I haven't seen for many months or years. To turn off the television, disconnect from all the social media, and go see people in person. Because if I've learned anything in all my years, it's this. We aren't promised anything in this life, and the next day could be our last. But we shouldn't despair. What we should do is make sure we keep in touch with people on a personal level, and not through a machine or device. It means so much more to them, and in the end, you.
Merry Christmas.