My childhood friend is your pastor

May 6, 2012

Departure time - 7:00 AM; Destination - a church in Savannah, Georgia; estimated time of arrival 10:30 AM which allowed for a breakfast stop in Brunswick.

The Cracker Barrel server was a nice Southern gal who cheerfully offered coffee as she took our order.

We of course had on our "Sunday clothes", so I was not surprised when I heard these words -

"You all on the way to church?"

When I responded yes, she said "would you pray for me?"

My mind went back to an experience I shared recently when I visited Renee and Wally.  As the server at a Carraba's was about to take our order, Renee said,

"In a few minutes we are going to ask the blessing and I was wondering - would you like for us to pray for you?"

The server that night was taken aback, but this server had no qualms answering me when I said "anything special you'd like us to pray about" and she told us that there is a Carraba's coming to Brunswick and she really needs a second job.

Good breakfast!

We arrived in Savannah well ahead of the appointed time and as we walked into the restroom, a lovely lady introduced herself to us and I told her that the pastor of the church was a childhood friend.

I didn't say Pastor Rick, even though my friend, the Reverend Rick Darrow and his wife, Patricia, were expecting us.  I hadn't seen him, however, since we were 13 and 15 years old.  I knew I was looking for a medium framed man whose red hair was now doused with silver.  Actually his sister, Kathy, had described him as "the same except for a few wrinkles".

As we walked into the sanctuary, a tall man with silver hair and a moustache approached us and said "Hello, I'm Pastor Bob".

Pastor Bob?

Oh me.  Were we in the wrong church?

"I'm a friend of Rick Darrow", I timidly said.

"He's teaching Sunday School," was Pastor Bob's response.

We chatted and in time a lovely woman approached us. 

"Are you Paula?"

The woman was Patricia Darrow.  We had never met.  After some explanation we learned that Rick had been the pastor at one time but that he is now an elder in the church.

When the service was over, Pastor Bob told me that the lady we had seen in the restroom had come "running" to him to tell him his childhood friend, Paula, was here and he had been perplexed trying to figure out who in the world had come to visit.

Moral of the story?  I don't think there is a moral.  I do think it was great to see my friend.  As we traveled on our way I had a question for my mother.

"Wonder why I didn't grow up and marry Rick Darrow?"  I remembered how kind and. protective he had always been when our families visited, going to the North Augusta A&W with "Ricky" and  Kathy and the fun we always shared.  And I remembered that once Rick had accidentally come into the room where I was dressing and I was "mortified".  To Rick it was probably not that big a deal, him having a sister and everything.  To me, however, I had no brothers and I felt so embarrassed.

Funny, how that innoucous experience has remained a part of my memory bank - something that still makes me blush a little.

As we drove across the state of Georgia and began to see signs - "Georgia Southern University",  I remembered how much my son, Tray, wanted to go to college there and I imagined him saying to me -
"Wonder what my life would be like if I had been able go to Georgia Southern?"

And my answer would be the same that my mother's was to me when I asked about marrying Rick Darrow

Oh my - just look what you would have missed!

(Note to Rick - this does not mean that I do not think you would have been a "good catch")

Next stop - Augusta