The sad news arrived this week of the passing of an old family friend ... and my thoughts drifted back to the days of my youth. He had been a friend of my parents when they were all young adults and I was a very young child. The memories are sweet.
He was the associate pastor at our church. The church called a young lady to be the minister of music ... and my parents started playing Cupid. They, along with others at the church, conspired to get the associate pastor and the minister of music together because they were, after all, two single people in their early 30s who needed someone else. Right? He was quiet and somewhat shy ... she was outgoing and full of fun.
I'm sure the pushing and plotting of so many within the church family had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that love bloomed and they fell in love. Mom recalled this week that the two were on their way to our house one night when he pulled over on the side of the street and proposed. When Mom opened the front door, there they stood, she with a shiny new diamond on her extended left hand. Even though it was 9:00 at night, Mom and Dad pulled my sister and me out of bed and everyone piled in the car to drive to Waverly to share the exciting news with her family.
His name was Bill Dillard and I have delightful memories of him. Dry humored, tall, and lean, he married Joyce who was shorter, wider, and had a laugh that would make the angels smile. She brought joy to his life ... he brought a quiet but strong love into hers. Together they were complete.
There are many memories of church activities, fun in Waverly at her family's peanut farm, and visiting them when they pastored in Irvington.
The Dillards eventually settled permanently in Richmond where he pastored at Parham Road Baptist Church for many years until his retirement, raising two sons and being a part of the community. One son recently become Parham's pastor ... the other son's family moved their membership there, and so the family was all together.
Now the patriarch has passed on. No longer will we hear him joke about preaching at a funeral only to look down and see he was wearing one black and one brown shoe ... but not to worry, he would say with a mischievious grin ... he had a matching pair in the closet at home. There would be laughter through the tears....
And so we all gather to say goodbye. This is the passing of time, the part that I don't care for as I watch my parents lose their friends in this season of their lives.
I'm sure, somewhere in heaven, Bill Dillard is standing at the Pearly Gates talking to St. Peter and saying, "... and I looked down to see I had one brown and one black shoe ... but not to worry ... I have a matching pair in the closet at home ..."
Farewell, Mr. Dillard. Thanks for the laughs, thanks for the memories, and thanks for your years of service for the Lord. We will miss you.
"Well done, thou good and faithful servant...." -- Matthew 25:21
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