|
A friend at work brought Tim to
see me and introduced us. I looked up at the tall,
handsome man standing before me.
???I remember you,??? he said, reaching down to give me a
hug. I was mystified.
As we talked, I found that I had known his parents
while my husband and I were stationed on a missionary
center overseas in the late 1970s. Tim, now 41, was in
his teens at the time, and since my husband and I were
newlyweds in our early thirties, we didn??™t really have
any contact with the high school crowd. ? But for some
reason, Tim still remembered us.
As we talked, I found that Tim and I had many mutual
friends from that time??”people he had known because
they were friends of his parents, or parents of high
school classmates.
? ? ? ?
He told me he was traveling through Canada and had
stopped in Calgary on the way to see people who had
worked in the mission at that time. He was
reconnecting with his past.
? ? ? ?
???What kind of work are you doing now???? I asked,
curious by this time.
???Nothing at the moment,??? he said. Then he explained
that he had a university degree, but by the time he
completed it, his field of training was obsolete
because of rapidly advancing computer technology. To
support himself, he had been working at a job that was
below his level of education.
As he continued, I sensed he had a need to talk. An
urgent need. I was more than willing to provide a
listening ear, since it wasn??™t a busy morning for me.
A U.S. citizen and army officer, he told me he had
just returned from a one-year tour of duty in Iraq six
weeks earlier. That explained his present lack of a
job.
???Wasn??™t it dangerous where you were???? I shuttered to
think of what he had gone through.
???Not really,??? he responded. After reflecting a moment,
he added, ???One time I was hanging out my wash on a
line, and the enemy blew holes through the
???Porta-Potty??™ near where I was standing.???
And he didn??™t call that dangerous? Yikes!
? Two weeks after he returned to the U.S., his wife
died from complications of cancer and several strokes.
From what he said, the marriage didn??™t sound like a
happy one, but the change was traumatic nevertheless.
???It sounds like it??™s time to start over,??? I said
sympathetically.
? He said he would like to, but first he had some of
his wife??™s debts to clear up. He also wanted to get a
Master??™s degree through financing from his time in the
service. Now he was traveling around the country and
had stops planned for Canada, California, Texas,
Florida, and finally back to his home area in
Illinois. When he mentioned whom he would be visiting,
they were people I knew as well.
???They??™re some quality people,??? I said, noting that
they were former teachers from the school he had
attended overseas.
???People are known by the company they keep,??? was his
response.
When it was time for him to go, he gave me another
hug. It had been a meaningful conversation for both of
us. I was glad he had stopped because I, too, had a
need to connect with the past. And I hoped my
listening ear had been an encouragement to him.
The next thing he said greatly intrigued me. ???I??™m not
searching for answers,??? he told me. ???I??™m searching for
questions.???
I??™m searching for questions. I pondered that
statement many times in the following days. What kind
of questions would a 41-year-old man be looking for?
I could guess at some of them: What am I going to do
with the rest of my life since it??™s probably half
over? Is my life making a difference? If I died today,
what would people remember about me? Have I touched
anyone else??™s??™ life? Is the world a better place
because I have lived?
At least those are questions I??™ve asked myself over
the years.
So Tim, wherever you are, I hope you do find the
questions you are searching for. And as you continue
your path of life, may you find the answers as well.
Life is too short and precious to waste any of it. God
bless you on your journey.
?© 2004 Janet Seever
*************************************** ? ? ? ?
The mother of two adult children, Janet Seever lives
with her husband in Calgary, Alberta, where she writes
for Word Alive magazine. She has had a variety
of articles and short stories published in magazines
and on Internet. You can find more of Janet??™s writing
at www.inscribe.org/janetseever and reach her at
jseever1@shaw.ca |
