“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying…” (Revelation 21:4)
Just a few weeks ago many of my friends, and I from Lewisburg and Logan County, where I grew up, lost a very dear childhood friend in Gerald Hildabrand. I still can’t believe this fine man is gone. Yesterday we lost another special childhood friend from the same community. Freddie Borders was also an exceptional Christian man. In fact, he and Gerald, along with several other men in the community, met together every week to pray for the little town of Lewisburg Kentucky.
Freddie, Gerald and I taught together at Lewisburg school for several years. Freddie and I graduated in the class of 1966 at Lewisburg High School. Gerald graduate two years before us also LHS. Freddie was my very first friend in the first grade. Growing up in the country for 5 years neither of us knew many of the other kids. We didn’t even know each other. We were seated in alphabetical order, he in front of me (Borders, Brady), and we became best friends. Our first grade teacher seemed so old to us. We were very afraid of her. She never smiled. Yep, she was one of the tough ones that made sure her students minded her. We had to walk a straight line, literally. How can anyone expect 30 or 35 first graders to walk a straight line, stand still, keep quiet, and keep their hands off of each other? We hadn’t even had any kindergarten boot camp.
Very early in the year, probably the first week, Freddie and I had just gotten to our seats after recess when our lovely teacher barged into the room carrying one of those paddles with a long rubber band with a rubber ball on the end. Only this paddle was missing the rubber band and the ball. She was headed our way. It scared me to death because I could tell she was very angry. I don’t know what Freddie had done to rile her so, but she grabbed him up and began hitting him with that paddle. Her swings were so enthusiastic that she popped me in the head with one of her back swings. I felt sorry for Freddie, but I was relieved when our teacher went back to her desk and put the paddle away.
Freddie and I have remained friends. We spent the night at each other’s houses when we were kids. We hunted and fished. We were in a singing group with three other boys while in high school. Freddie was a talented musician teaching probably hundreds of kids to play musical instruments. He and I married sweet wives who gave us wonderful children who produced the most wonderful grandchildren. Freddie was a positive man, who always had a vision. When we went fishing Freddie knew where we would find fish, but if we didn’t find them there he knew why they weren’t there, and where they might have gone.
Freddie had a bird dog that he said was the best, and she would find us some quail. We had hunted all morning in the coldest, most uncomfortable weather I had experienced. No birds! Finally, his dog hit on a covey of quail. Slowly she moved in, and Freddie gave her the go ahead to flush them. The birds came up, and I managed to shoot one. The dog rushed to get my bird, but instead of bringing it back to me she ate it. I really didn’t blame her because we had been out there a very long time. I think one of my favorite things about Freddie was how positive he was.
Freddie and Gerald are in heaven now. I imagine Gerald has a lot to tell Freddie. Oh the stories they can tell. They both know how to spin a story. I wonder what they are talking about? One of these days I’m going to join them. I can tell a story or two myself! I really don’t know what they are doing, but I do know there is no sorrow going on with either of them. Jesus has taken care of that! There is no sorrow anywhere that heaven cannot heal.
Thank you for sharing John Paul.
ReplyDeleteWonderful!
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