December 28, 2015 - “You meet people who forget you. You forget people you meet. But sometimes you meet those people you can't forget. Those are your 'friends.'”
Walter was my roommate during my first two years at East Texas Baptist University in the early fifties. Our friendship grew from attending classes together to cutting classes together to fish in Marshall’s Scout Lake. We were always the first ones to swim in the Lake’s icy water at the beginning of spring. Walter and I hitchhiked to Springfield, Missouri one year…left with seven dollars between us …ate grapes and apples from roadside farms along the way. On our way back home we wound up a few miles out of Mena, Arkansas… broke and hungry. As we stood waiting for a ride, an elderly man walked down from a nearby house and said, “Boys, God told me to give this to you” and handed us each a silver dollar. He couldn’t have known how hungry we were…or how deeply we appreciated his help…or how good the hot dogs were a few minutes later.
While visiting with me at my first pastorate in Patroon, Texas, Walter met and later married one of our sweetest teenagers, Jane Runnels. A few months after performing their marriage ceremony, I entered the Army and lost touch with them. From time to time I got information from Jane’s Mother and Dad who still lived in Patroon but it was never convenient to go visit them. As the years passed by, I was Pastor of churches in Oregon, Ft. Worth, Amarillo and Louisiana….and during those years I promised myself many times that I’d locate Walter and his family.
The year reached 2009...and yesterday I suddenly realized over fifty years had passed since I had seen my friend. So I quickly made a resolution to find him …regardless of what it took. I started by searching through my Book of ETBU Alumni. After that failed, I typed “Walter Bishop” into the White Pages in my computer and could hardly believe my eyes when I found the listing: Walter Bishop, 6410 Highway #90, Madisonville, Texas. It also listed his zip code and telephone number.
Reaching for the phone, I hurriedly dialed the number and after few rings, I heard a familiar “Hello” ….and even after all these years, I knew the voice was Jane’s. I hastily asked her a series of questions and then asked, “How’s Walter?” A noticeably long silence followed before she replied: “Douglas, Walter crossed the Jordan ten months ago.” “I found him dead in his bed”.
A deep sense of remorse gripped my heart as I realized my many plans to see my friend had come to an end. “Jane, I’m so sorry”. “He was one of my dearest friends but I’ll never see him again until I cross the Jordan, too…” That’s right”, she said.
“None of us will”.
