Old man in the lobby at midnight.
“I have a 31-year old and a 26-year old. I have a third one who passed five years ago but I like to think that he’s still with us. Do you know the community college about three and a half hours east of here? It’s right above Elgin. Well, anyways, if you go east about three or so hours you’ll hit it and that’s where my son played baseball for two years. He made it on the team right after high school. We was all so proud. I remember in high school, his senior year, he was playing against— what is that black school right across 35? Well, anyways, his senior year he was playing them and the pitcher was striking everyone out for three innings. Well, my boy came up and said, “Throw something straight and I’ll knock it out of the park.” The pitcher got cocky and he threw him a perfect fastball, just right down the middle. And my boy, on the first hit, knocked it right out into the service road. His whole team started cheering, even though it was a single homer and they were down by three, and I remember how happy he was that day. That day was funny because it fogged in the morning, rained in the afternoon and snowed at night. His team still played through a double-header.
The day the Lord took him he was working the night shift delivering medical supplies for a company here in town. He came back from college, said he didn’t like it that much, and got him a job. It was a good job and he was happy so his mother and I were happy. So he was driving down in those winding roads south of Slaughter one night and he lost control. The guy behind him said it looked like he dropped his cellphone and went to grab it. He over-corrected and flipped over a fence. The person behind him that saw all this was a nurse and he grabbed his supplies out of his car to go help him. He said by the time he got there he was trying to talk to him but he knew he was already gone. He still cut him loose and did everything he could. I’m thankful for that man and I’ve called him every year since. He still answers, even though I just start crying. I’m just glad he didn’t die in no coma, maybe burn to death. I’m just glad the Lord took him quick.”
