Gone Fishin' - for Ron Wood

I went out to my favorite fishing spot again. I didn’t see any good opportunities at first, so I ended up walking around for a while. Eventually I just said, “Ok God, I’m going to walk around the clothes dept. one more time…so if there’s someone you want me to talk to, please let them show up.” So I did, and then on the way out I decided to go ahead and buy some coffee and see one last time if there was anyone to sit next too.

So I got in line, and in front of me was a heavy-set, older black man, in a wheel-chair, wearing a “Negro Leagues’ ball cap. He got his food and pulled as close as he could in his wheel chair to a table by himself. I knew right then I’d found my man.

So I got my decaf and fixed it up and sat down at his table after asking him if anyone was sitting there. He told me his blood sugar had dipped and he got some food to bring it back up. That led into a conversation that went from blood sugar – to him being a trucker for 30 years eating at truck stops – to my being a teacher – to him sharing stories that as a teacher he’d like me to know…one part of which was a quote that a teacher told him that he’d always remembered: “Try to get what you want out of life….and if you can’t get it….get what you can, and make what you want out of it.” He has children in their 30’s and 40’s and one of them actually went to Embry-Riddle School of Aviation, which is where my dad went. After I told him that my dad had been an airline mechanic at Hartsfield for about 30 years, he told me, that he too wanted to go to school to be an airline mechanic, but at that time (in the 60’s) they still weren’t accepting blacks. He said things changed, but at the time he couldn’t wait on things to change, so that’s why he got into the trucking industry.

We went on talking for a while, and I started introducing spiritual topics like the 24 hr / 365 a day church they have housed in a tractor trailer at a truck stop over in Commerce. That led me in to asking what religious background his family had. Turns out he and his wife are Christians, and Baptists at that. I didn’t stop there, I mentioned to him about denominations being what they are, but what is important is having a relationship with Jesus Christ. He wholeheartedly agreed. I got the sense that he truly was a Christian.

He and his wife live in Atlanta, but have a timeshare in Clarkesville. So I told him he should come visit our church when he’s up here. He really appreciated my invite and asked me to explain where my church was and I did. He knew the area. I got the sense that he really appreciated me talking with him and inviting him to my church. I have a good feeling that he’ll really come. I hope he does.