I was working this morning at Cracker Barrel when a man was seated in my section. He was an older looking man and a little rough around the edges. (Most likely this guy was never called a wimp or a sissy.) When you are working in restaurants you can usually tell who is traveling through and not native to your surrounding area. I poured the man his coffee as he poured over his road atlas. When I finished taking his order he asked me the best way to get to Denton. I suggested a route and pointed it out on his map. When waiting tables you are always searching for betters tips, so in an attempt to be more personal and social I inquired where he was from. He replied with, "Phoenix, I am traveling to Denton because one of my closest friends in the world is dieing. He saved my life." I offered my deepest condolences and feeling a bit awkward hurried off to put his order in the computer. A bit later I was stopping by to refill his coffee and inform him his food shouldn't be much longer when, with glazed eyes, he said: "I was a Fighter pilot in Vietnam, flying the F-4 Phantom. One afternoon I was flying my routine mission when out of nowhere a S2AM (surface to air missile) came up from behind me and clipped my landing gear. The plane was on fire and the landing gear was jammed so I knew I couldn't land back on the carrier. I found a rice patty, radioed my location and glided in. When the plane crashed within seconds I saw four black Marines. They drug me out of the plane. Timmy, Daryl, John, and Robert, they made a stretcher and carried me on it for three days. Three days on a hand made stretcher! They saved my life. After we came home two of them came and worked for me as district managers for my oil company in southern California, another is living in Brewten, Alabama, and Daryl is in Denton, thats who I am going to see. Daryl is the one who is dieing. Its a shame, a damn shame." As the gruff Vietnam veteran wipe the tears out of his eyes, I had to excuse myself to do the same. I think that today I heard the best definition of friendship I will ever hear.
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2 comments:
That is a great story of sacrifice and allegiance, sounds familiar doesn't it? As believers to think that Jesus calls us friend is most humbling. To think of the sacrifice that he made for us and the way He pursues us for the glory of His kingdom confirms that HE IS DEFINITELY OUR FRIEND, in my own life I wish, hope and pray to be a better "friend" to Him than I have been in the past.
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