Can't we all git along?

Dan

To start at the beginning. A childhood friend contacted me several years ago. He wanted to reconnect after many decades that passed by. He was announcing his retirement in his field of work and was living in Illinois. We had chatted and talked about things that have been happening. I working for the city and he getting hit by lightning. That was a faith story like no other that brought his life to God. He sent me a dvd of his testimony and news footage from when he was living in Arizona. We talked about getting together one day and when that time came up, it was awesome to see him and hear how things have changed. We talked about family and friends. We talked about getting our wives together, but that never happend. You see, Dan got killed in an auto accident after MLK day and two days before his birthday. I did not know about this until about three weeks ago when his wife contacted me. I was deeply saddened because we never had the chance to see each other again.

Dan and I grew up together since 3rd grade. I remember one time on the playground in elementary school, instead of playing sports, we would pretend we were a rock band. Someone on drums, guitar, and someone singing. It was our form of an "Air band".  Dan, Mike and I were a part of that group. Not sure what triggered that to happen that day. But I guess we had "creative imagination" in those days. And how long can you sing during recess anyways?  Dan later on in our 8th grade years initiated us to join him in singing the rock opera "Jesus Christ, Superstar. Dan played Judas, Norman played Pontius Pilate, a jewish dude named Scott played Jesus. I can't remember who I represented. (It'll come back to me sooner or later). One of our performances had Dan really get into his song. At the point he yelled out "JESUS!!!!!" His voice cracked and so did our orchestra who were playing along. They practically dropped their instruments and started cracking up. It took everyone by surprised. But for integrities sake we were able to pick ourselves up and continue. But it was something like that that made Dan special. The passion he had for the musical was great. He was really involved with practicing his part and wanting to get things right. But most of all have fun. We worked together as dish washers on the weekends for a friend. It was fun being with him. I always referred to him as my Stan Laurel, just because he loved imitating him. In our freshman year in High School, we ran cross country, we would see our friend Norman, be a part of JV Football. It was like the three amigo's. Things seemed to change though later on. Dan was distant and I think I had other things going on in life. After high school, I never saw him again until that phone call this past year.

I attended the Repose/Memorial/Mass for Dan this past monday. It was a rainy Washington day, which seemed to clear up just before the service started. It was a little different than I would think how Memorial services are. But it was nice to see Dan's younger sister, his mom, and wife and son. I attended the reception which was full of it's congregation and I felt out of place. I sat outside of the tabled area where chairs were also placed. I didn't think it appropriate for me to just go in and talk with a complete stranger, but it was nice that I had the chance to talk to Dan's Mom and sister and a little bit with Danny too. It was unfortunate to see them in this way though. Before I left, I wanted to talk to Kit, (Dan's wife) she confessed that she did not want to come to this service because the pain and loss she has endured was too much. But she was there and we talked,cried and hugged.

Dan's son. Danny was there and created a slideshow honoring his father. It was a very touching tribute which made me somber and sad for missed opportunities before the accident.

God has assured us of eternal life through His son. Dan is singing out his heart in heaven and I feel him watching and at peace. My prayers are for Kit and her family in their healing and comfort.....

Sorry for the rambling, it's been awhile since I last blogged.....

Remembering Kenny Khuu

Today was just another typical day at work except for hearing news of a good bro who I had the opportunity in being a Sunday school teacher to. It seemed like only yesterday that I was part of a team of teachers involved in doing worship for children. The idea that was called "Children's Church."  It involved bringing children from grades 1-5 together in singing, teaching and learning about God. A step before Junior worship or regular worship service.

For me it was a challenge but a joy  to be involved in it (especially the singing time). I always want to instill fun in kids when learning about our Creator. There were other times that were challenging too. (But that's a story I'll reserve for later).

This post is mostly about remembering Kenny Khuu.

Kenny (his cousins, Lucy and Nancy) were filled with a childs' innocence and joy. Whenever their parents would drop them off for Children's Church, they seemed happy to be there and to see their friends. The parents always came with a smile on their face too.

When I first started being part of Children's Church there were the kids who didn't like to sing and then there were those who loved it. Kids like Ginger, Caroline, Kristin, Heather, Randy, Lucy, Nancy and Kenny. They especially had  fun with the action type songs. Kenny, Lucy and Nancy would always love to participate and it seemed like singing for them was an activity that was special to them.

It was cool to help them sing a song at one time when they were to do a special number at one time. It was the way I was as a child. (appreciating music). They were kind of like JT's kids.( f I ever had any anyways. I'd love to have children like that).

Kenny was always the little dude with alot of energy. A bundle that would be bouncing off walls in a good way.

It made being involved in children's ministry a blast.

Kenny's enthusiasm rubbed off on others. I will always remember Kenny for that.  He had that yell leader type of quality that made you want to follow him. The kind of guy you want to hang around with. Kids dd.

He had joy through adversity. He usually looked at things positively. Rarely negative, (although those negative days did happen).  His love for his sports  teams would display his devotion to them or disgust when they lost. I could imagine that his heart sank when Seattle lost the Supersonics to Oklahoma or in the lackluster performance of this year's Husky Football program.

Kenny passed away peacefully this past Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. Rest Bro..

Blog tired...