Ballard

March 9

He was in his mid-forties when he became the rector of the Episcopal Church that I attended. He was a teddy bear, large, gentle and comforting. He baptized two of my children, buried one and married one. Ministers tend to do that over time.

He boarded up my house when a truck plowed through it and urged me to do more with my life when I was comfortable. Ministers don't generally to that.

We cried, laughed, and prayed together. He listened, praised and prodded and when it was time for me to move on he helped me leave well. Ballard was one of my God-sent friends.

"A real friend sticks closer than a brother." (Proverbs 18:24)