The Bad News First

Sunday February 20th was an odd day. I am not one who puts much stock in yin yang philosophy, but if there was ever a time that God used opposite situations to sustain me it was that day. After traveling back from a fun weekend celebrating Cohen’s 1st birthday I went over to Geoffrey’s house. We spent an hour or so watching basketball and decided to tap into our inner athletes and drive to HSU for some campus golf. While driving to campus Geoffrey took a phone call from his father…

The Bad News First

Not many people can say that they know all of the names of the people in their senior class, but I can because I graduated with just 40 other people. While I haven’t kept up with my classmates as well as I should have, through social media I am able to find most of them if I so desire.

One of the young men from the class of 2004 was Keith Hayes. I first met Keith in the 7th grade. We were a part of the same small group that included three others: David Huss, Nick Comey, and Paul Sagovia. The fluidity of our class in High School caused some to come while others left, but David, Keith, and I remained. With the addition of several others, we graduated close friends. In college I lost touch with Keith except the occasional Facebook message until 2010 when I found out Keith had been diagnosed with Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Geoffrey – “Hey Pop!...What!...Keith Hayes!?...When?...”

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t have to. Shocked and speechless we decided to not play campus golf. I don’t know how to express what I was feeling: sad, nostalgic, lonely,…scared. Keith was 25, married to his high school sweetheart, smart, talented, and full of potential. As Geoffrey and I sat on my front porch looking at old yearbooks mourning the loss of our friend my phone rang.

The Good News Second

When Ashley and I first found out we were having a baby everyone we told would in return ask the same question, “Do you know what it is yet?” March 7th was circled on our calendar as "the day we find out." While I counted down the days, Ashley made lists of favorite beddings, colors, and outfits separated into two columns: boys and girls. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t hope for a boy. Not that I don’t want daughters, but being the only remaining Wood able to have children there has produced a bit of pressure to produce a male heir.

Me – (Audible Depression) “Hey Babe…My friend Keith died today…Yeah I’m okay. I don’t think it has sunk in yet…Yes I would like to hear some good news…What? We can find out the sex of the baby tonight!?...Yes I want to!”

There are a few perks when your wife works at the ER. One of which is that she has an “in” with the night Sono Tech. At 1:00 am, when her shifted ended, I drove to the ER and we watched with excitement as we found out we will be having a son, Jackson “Jack” Andrew Wood. I don’t know how to express how I felt: ecstatic, relieved, proud,…scared. I celebrated with my wife and we made ridiculously late phone calls to our family at 2:00 in the morning. But through the celebration Keith was still on my mind.

Most people aren’t faced with the worst and best news in the same day. I felt like I was on a teeter-totter of emotion, bouncing between tears of pain and tears of joy. While right now February 20th seems like a significant crossroad, life continues.

David drove into Abilene late Wednesday night and the two of us went to Keith’s celebration service on the 24th. We reconnected with old friends, told stories, and remembered our Keith. Ashley and I have begun buy more blue babyphernalia, and are getting use to calling our baby Jack. While I do not wish to accompany all of life’s celebrations with tragedies I do find some comfort in the symmetry that presented me joy in a time of pain.

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