Well done...

The old man died last night. Sunday, ten days ago Tammy called to say Michael needed to come on if he wanted to see his dad alive again. Hospice thought he wouldn’t live until Wednesday when Michael was planning to be there. Monday was a whirlwind canceling and rescheduling appointments, packing, getting the car ready to go, but he was able to leave in the early afternoon. The room across from his dad at Autumn Place was empty (Mr. Hudson had died) so Tammy had the room made ready for Michael. It was a tender week of care giving... hand holding, reading aloud from the Bible, the last haircut, H.O. aware of Michael’s presence intermittently. With his son by his side, the old preacher set out on his last road trip.
H.O.’s calling in life was to be a pastor. For the first part of his career, he was a parish pastor for 85th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The second parish was the whole state of Alabama, all the African American Baptist churches primarily. He and Ann traveled the state, the country and the world in the company of black Baptists. In an era when white people still gave their yard man a drink in a mason jar, Ann and H.O. visited homes, ate wonderful meals, preached and became friends with more black people than white. Whenever they came to visit us, wherever we lived, H.O. always knew who the black Baptist pastors were and was preaching in their churches or we went for worship. He has outlived almost all of his contemporaries black and white. The pastoral care he and Ann lived out during a time of turmoil is mostly forgotten now, eclipsed by the march of time.
When Tammy called last night to tell us H.O. had died, she was weeping. In his last parish, Autumn Place, the women loved him. The nurses and care givers loved him because he loved them. When they served him his meals, he would take their hand, kiss it and thank them. When he told his trademark corny jokes, they laughed and shared hugs. H.O. was proud of being a “hugging Hester”. All the helpers, black and white, loved him for who he had been and who he was now. Last night, Tammy and Cora bathed his body and dressed him for his last trip. It was a gift of love.
So today we wakened to a new world, a world where Ann and H.O. are together again, beyond our reach but in our hearts. After Ann’s death, H.O. couldn’t wait to get back home to Alabama. Alabama, his native state, where he and Ann grew up knowing each other, married, birthed children, lived their love story, home sweet home. The time after her death was lonely for him. She had been his sweetheart since childhood and his life after her death was lopsided and a little lost. This morning, in the midst of our grief is the joy of their glad reunion. Betwixt and between again...
Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Rest now in the arms of God with your sweet Ann by your side. We will catch up with you later.