A thought

Went to a visitation tonight.  Good guy that went to the same church we went to when I was growing up.  He passed away this week.  I spent a lot of time thinking about him today, which surprised me, because I'd only run into him a handful of times in the past 20 years, and few in the past ten, as his health declined.  Still, he was in my thoughts quite a bit today.

John Cooley was a good guy, though.

I was a weird kid.

Not completely weird.   Not in the weirdo setting fires in Old Lady Semple's mailbox kind of way.   Just a curly-headed, heavyset, bookish kid who grew up to 6'3" by the time he was 12.  I probably wasn't that weird.  I felt weird, though.  I felt like I stood out like a sore thumb.  Even among friends, I sometimes felt like an outsider.  I guess all kids feel that way.

I still feel that way, sometimes.  I guess we all do.

John had a way, though.

He never made me feel like I was weird.  He made me feel like part of the group.  He made everybody feel like part of the group.

He was genuinely interested.

He always had a joke and was ready to talk to you about anything.

It may not have meant a thing in the world to him, an adult treating a quiet kid on unsure footing like he was just one of the guys.  It was just his way.  I always appreciated him for that.  The world needs more people like that.