The Man Who Wore His Belt Buckle on the Side

Some people are carried in our memories forever, never leaving our consciousness long after they have departed our life. Others lurk just beneath the surface, waiting for the oddest times to bob to the surface, wave their arms and remind us of the niche they occupy in our memory. Ken is one of those latter folks. I first met him when I was transferred to a power plant lab from the corporate central lab. Ken, an Air Force veteran, was an I&C tech. One of his duties was maintaining the many water analyzers that monitored the high purity water needed in a modern supercritical boiler. He would stop by the lab to suck up some air conditioning and have a smoke. This was the early 80s, before smoking indoors became the banned, capital crime it is today. Ken was what my dad would have called a character, mostly because of the way he wore his belt. Most folks feed their belt into the loops starting at on side of the fly and working around so that the buckle is centered over the fly. Not so Ken. He started on the right side and crossed the fly, leaving the buckle on his right hip. On his visits to the lab, we would talk about inconsequential things the way acquaintances do; "Hot enough for ya?", "How 'bout them 'Stros?". We also talked about family. Ken had a long time wife and an apple of his eye daughter. Our conversations changed one day, as Ken began to struggle with a change in his life.

His beloved wife had a stroke. The bright, intelligent, witty, active woman was transformed in an instant. Unable to walk or communicate, she would weep in frustration. Ken couldn't bare to see her that way. He struggled with the question that many have struggled with over the course of time; how could a  loving God allow things like this to happen. He couldn't see God's provision in the trial. Money got very tight. One day when he came home from work wondering how they were going to make it to the next payday, he opened his mailbox to find an envelope with $800 along with the mail. We took a collection at the plant and got $1100 for him. Provisions were being made. But she wasn't getting any better and the frustration and pressure were mounting. One Friday night, while his daughter was on a date, he put a note on the front door for her, telling her not to come in but to call the police. He walked into the bedroom where his wife was in bed, laid down beside her, put a .45 to her head and ended her life.  Then he put a .22 to his own head. He survived, but lost 1/4 of his skull and a portion of his brain. His daughter had just come home, had just come up to the front door, and heard the two shots that changed HER life forever too.

We heard the news at work the following Monday. The mood in the plant was pretty subdued that day. About midday, a couple operators came into the lab talking about it. One of them couldn't figure out just who Ken was.  The connection was finally made when his companion said, "You know, the guy who wore his belt buckle on the side". I was stunned.  These men had worked with Ken for years and all they knew about him was that he wore his belt buckle in an unusual way.

I don't really know what made me think of Ken today. He hasn't bobbed to the surface of the swampy morass that passes for my memory in ages. I wonder if he is still alive? I wonder what happened to his daughter? I wonder how many people who cross OUR lives will only remember us for some inconsequential quirk?

The Bible...

To most Christians, the Bible is like a software license. They don't actually read it. They just scroll to the bottom and click "I Agree".

Danny

It was the kind of warm, April day that brings the promise of summer to the end of a long Michigan winter. A few stubborn piles of snow clung to the edge of the cinder track in spots as the high school track team went through it's warm up routines. It wasn't uncommon for alumni to come back for visits, so no one was really surprised to see Danny walking out on to the field. Danny had graduated several years before. He was never a great athlete, but he had come out for track every year. We talk about how athletics can build character that will last a lifetime, and they can, if the coach is a man of character himself. There was no bigger character than Coach Bredeweg.

Coach insisted on maximum effort at all times. He loved to win, but even more, he loved to see his athletes improve on their best performances. You never had anything to worry about as long as you gave him your best, and if you didn't, you were likely to be on the receiving end of one his most scathing rebukes,"Get the lead out".

Danny headed straight for Coach and stood before him with the ramrod posture of a soldier. There was a good reason. After graduating, Danny had enlisted in the Army. He had been a bit of a trouble maker in school but the discipline he had first tasted under Coach had appealed to the boy searching for his place in life. In a quiet, wavering voice he announced, "Coach, thank you for saving my life in Nam". He had everyone's rapt attention.

"It was my first patrol, and we were in column on a narrow trail, when we walked into an ambush. I was in the middle of the column and all hell broke loose around me. Guys were diving for cover off the trail, but I froze. I could see puffs of dirt flying in the air as the bullets walked their way towards me down the trail. They came closer and closer but I couldn't move. I heard my buddies yelling at me, but I couldn't move. I just watched those little puffs of death coming to take me. And then I heard your voice in my head, yelling 'Aresmendez, get the lead out!' I found my legs and dove off the trail just in time. You saved my life."

There's a thousand stories in the locker room. This is just one of them.

You might be a woodworker if...

...you wash your hair and sawdust clogs the drain
...you stop to pick up a pallet on the side of the road for the white oak scrap. (yes, I have)
...you've picked through the dumpster at a custom cabinet shop for exotic wood scraps.  (yes, I have)
...you give your wife Eau de Oak perfume for Christmas. (looked, but can't find any 8^( 
...you leave your $30,000 car in the driveway so you don't scratch your new tablesaw in the garage
...you know how to pronounce ipe, and it's country of origin.
...you know hollow ground has nothing to do with coffee
...someone says burl and your first thought isn't Ives
...someone says birdseye and your first thought isn't frozen vegetables
...you've ever asked yourself,"What would Norm do?"

Father's Day...