Snohomish River valley

I headed south on I-5 just about the time the sun came up. Mountains laden in snow drew my eyes again and again as the sun, filtered by billowy clouds, crept higher and higher into the sky. From the HOV lane I looked down on the Snohomish River valley, green patches through the winter trees, the meandering river, the foothills.

My brother Tom took the River Road each evening to his job at the cannery in Snohomish the summer of 1967. He was earning money for tuition at Everett Community College. On August 9 we celebrated his 18th birthday, which had been the day before, and waved him off to work. Along the River Road he was in a one-car accident, and instantly he passed into Heaven.

Our family at CYC Honor Council, 1959

My Best Friend

Our parents’ firstborn, Tom was a remarkable guy. He was happy, easygoing, friendly, attractive, talented. How many times, I wonder, did my girlfriends say, “Hi Ginger. How’s Tom?”

Only a year and ten days older than I, Tom was my best friend. When we were little we’d want the same thing the other had. Tommy was four and I was three when he invited Jesus into his heart, and because he did, so did I.

We were young, but not too young to understand Jesus’ love for us and our need for him. If you have little ones in your life talk to them about Jesus. Share the stories of Jesus and little children from the New Testament.¹ Teach them simple Bible verses.² Let them know that Jesus will walk with them all through their lives. Ask the Lord to lead you as you lead your “littles” to Him, and He will.

Everybody loved Tom

Everybody loved Tom, except maybe the grumpy people at the end of his paper route who couldn’t understand why he was always late with their papers. I can tell you why. He would stop and chat with the lonely ones at the beginning of the route, or help a kid who’d fallen off his bike, or try to get a cat out of a tree. Tom wasn’t much for time management but he was strong in caring for people.

“Curly,” ready to fight “Jud” over “Laurie”

He played Curly in our high school’s production of Oklahoma and for several months he was Curly, wearing a Western shirt and cowboy hat to go to the store for Mom, talking with an Okie accent. During the performance it was as if the audience was watching their neighbor kid over the fence. And when Curly (Tom) proposed to Laurie (Sue Forrest), he stepped to the edge of the stage and, with a dazzling smile, called out to the audience, “Hey, all you out there that can hear my voice, I just asked Laurie Williams to marry me!” The crowd stood to their feet and burst into applause, right in the middle of the show!

He was just that kind of guy

Tom’s faith was as natural to him as breathing. He loved Jesus, and I can’t think of any time that he lost sight of that. But something happened to him at a youth conference in Indiana earlier in the summer of 1967 that took him even deeper. We knew by his life that he’d made some significant new commitment to the Lord, but he was gone before we got to hear what it was.

People poured into our house after Tom’s death—both teens and adults—to see us. Overwhelmed with their own grief, they came to comfort us. They told their “Tom stories” through their tears and their laughter, and my parents ministered the love and peace of Christ to them. It was the Holy Spirit at work in an excruciating time.

Over six hundred people came to Tom’s funeral. We celebrated his life, mourned his passing, and heard of the grace of God that surrounds and sustains those whose hope is in Him. My parents, in the midst of their grief, thanked God for lending them Tom for 18 years, assured that they would see him again in Heaven.

I’ll tell you, I’m looking forward to that too!

Ginger

 

¹Mark 10:13-16, Matt 19:13-14, Luke 18:15-17, Matt 18:2-5, Mark 9:36-37, Luke 9:47-48, Matt 18:10, Matt 18:14

² Meaningful verses kids can learn: Gen 1:1; Ps 23, 56:3, 100, 107:1, 119:11, 139:14; Pr 3:5-6;Luke 2:52; John 3:16; Eph 4:32, 1 John 4:19. And there are many CDs by various artists that offer wonderful Scripture songs to help kids learn God’s Word. A quick search on the internet will bring up many titles and artists.