One More ...

My grandfather used to sing a song that said, "We are going down the valley one by one, with our faces toward the setting of the sun ..."  And the reality of this has certainly been in my mind recently.  During the past four years four of my closest friends have walked down the valley of death and been taken home to heaven.  First it was Norm Zellers, then Gary Varner, then Ralph Michel and now yesterday, my brother, Terry.   While I know that all four are in heaven, it is so hard to lose real life-long friends.  Their deaths were all so hard to take, but Terry's is the hardest.  It hurts.  We were always close.  We enjoyed being with each other. He was always so positive, even when he was suffering in his final days.   He had a strong Christian testimony and encouraged so many people.  He had wisdom and always had ways to solve problems.  He was always willing to help me.  I have so many memories ... sharing the mumps in Elizabethtown  ... enjoying our dog Frisky ... Christmas trips to Bethlehem ... walking to school with him up N. Queen St. in Lancaster ... stitches and broken bones ... playing baseball in the backyard ... trying to nail together a broken tree ... enjoying Cho-Chos in Sunbury ... waiting in line together to buy a television for nine cents ... camping at Mizpah Grove ... coaching his Teener baseball team ... getting pinned by him when we wrestled ... watching his football team win the league championship ... cheering him on as he wrestled in tournaments and in college  ... working together picking cherries ... laying down a squeeze bunt that scored him from third to win a church softball game ... taking our kids to Long's Park ... using his car to take a trip to Indiana when we were having trouble with our car ... working with him in Awana ... serving on the elder board together ... trips together, especially to Williamsburg  ...  going to a Penn State football game with him ... spending New Year's Day together at dad's ... Sunday lunches at  Wendys ... dealing together with mother's sudden death ... checking on dad at times when we couldn't find him ... and so much more.  Good memories are so important, but there is now a void in my heart that will never again be filled.   I do thank the Lord that he took him peacefully yesterday while we sang hymns around his bed in the hospital.  We were singing "When We All Get To Heaven" as he breathed his last breath here on earth and was ushered into the presence of the Lord.  And I hope that he had the chance upon his arrival to wish mother, "Happy Mother's Day!".  I thank the Lord for the 63 years that I had the chance to have him as my brother and I look forward to sharing again with him throughout eternity.  For it is true, we are going down the valley one by one.