Nearing the finish line

I remember the day my father cut down an aged tree near our house that had likely been there decades before we arrived. Probably no more than 5 or 6 at the time, I can still see the wood-frame house, the old tree and the rusting car that sat beneath it. I also remember the cavity in the earth after the stump was pulled from the ground. But mostly I remember how different – how much smaller and lonely - the little house looked without the tree.

When Ethel Key – a tree of strength and comfort to so many – died three years ago, she left a cavity in many lives, including the heart of her “Little Man.” Without his wife, Earl looked smaller and lonely, much like our little house without the tree.

I remember when I met Earl, a small man behind the wheel of a monstrous, 40-foot motor home. He and his 65-year-old-bride (His first wife, Helen, had died) were on a cross-country trip, a honeymoon of sorts. Ethel had been a part of my life for two decades but I had not yet met her second husband. I found him a delightful, humble man, witty but not reckless with his words.

It is hard to believe more than 20 years have passed since that meeting.

Now, as Earl Key nears the end of a life that began 87 years ago and a Christian walk started as a young man, I am once again reminded how quickly cherished moments become distant memories.

Soon, Earl will go “the way of man” and join those souls who long to see “The Living Tree of Life.”

I will miss you, Earl, but I hope to see you and Ethel again.

Thank you, my friend, for your gentle, steadfast example of faith in Jesus Christ. Like Ethel, you will leave a cavity in many lives when you leave. I will miss your wit and wisdom and hearing you pray. When you talked to God, I always felt like I was sitting with you on His lap.

We should all be so blessed to leave holes in at least a few hearts when we are pulled from this earth.

-David LaBelle