Thank you, friends, for your
kindness yesterday. I felt remarkably better throughout the day
yesterday. Headache is completely gone and I feel like myself again!
Last
Friday I shared with you how our pictures tell our stories. I recently had
the chance to see some pictures from our family from years gone by, and the memories
those pictures stirred were so powerful!
Today
I want to share with you a similar prompt, but I’m borrowing the words and
story of a friend.
Those
of you who read from the world of the Wesleyan denomination probably heard or
read this week of the passing of Professor Keith Drury. I had the privilege of
being his New Testament Survey student during my freshman year of college. I
loved his class and learned much from him, but what I remember most of all was
his contagious enthusiasm for life. He always smiled, always had excitement in
his voice and a spring in his step. He loved his job, his students, his subject
matter – and it showed.
Years
later, when Ryan and I attended College Wesleyan Church, we were in the same Sunday
School class with his son and daughter-in-law, Dave and Kathy, and we enjoyed friendship
with them. We still exchange Christmas cards, and I love that.
Keith
passed away unexpectedly this week after suffering a stroke, and while I am so
sorry he is gone from being an encourager on this earth, I have loved reading
the tributes about his life.
His
daughter-in-law (Kathy) said this on Facebook, and it could be this week’s
Flashback Friday post all by itself:
I
am thankful so much of his life is left to us in writing and also how he
impacted our lives in how we live.
YES!!!
To be fair, Keith was a writer. An author. The author of several books,
actually. He spoke at a writing conference I went to many years ago, and I
remember his session well. I remember his teaching on writing pieces of
manuscripts on notecards and cutting out to keep the lines that didn’t make it
into the book. They might end up becoming a book by themselves someday! (And I’ve
taken that advice!)
But
even if he hadn’t been an author of books for the masses, he captured his life
in writing and this week – this week of his passing – the first thing she is grateful
to have is his life in writing.
She
went on to share two pictures. The first was of Keith and his wife – and Kathy
with Dave. The second seemed a strange picture at first glance. It was the
photo of the back end of a car, and the backs of Keith and his wife as they
exited the car toward the house.
She
wrote, “The first photo is the last one we had together in August of 2023.”
(They lived in different states.) Then she explained the second photo: “One month
ago, early March, my daughter and I were blessed to be able to make a visit,
and as we were getting ready to drive away, I felt the need for some reason to take
a picture of them from inside our car, walking sweetly back into their condo,
which was the very last time we saw him.”
Is
the photo award winning? No. Is it powerful? Yes. It represents a final memory.
A prompting of the heart to capture a moment, even though it was a candid of
all candids.
These
are the things that matter. The pictures tell stories. The words tell stories.
The pictures and words colliding save memories for generations to come.
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