Update On Mike Vanderboegh
BY Herschel Smith
8 years, 7 months ago
I drove down from my home in Ohio to see Mike Vanderboegh this weekend at his home in Alabama. I was able to spend some time with him on Friday night and again on Saturday morning.
His appearance is about what you’d expect for a man who told us a week ago the doctors have given him four weeks to live – there’s no need to dwell on that here. After years of friendship, it was important for me to see him face-to-face, and to show him how much I valued the blessing of knowing him. In fact, grim and sad as the reason for my trip was, I told Mike I not only considered making it one blessing, but two: That there are people in my life I care enough about to make such a trip for, and that I have the means and the capability to do it.
It’s about 12 hours each way (with stops for gas and to get the circulation going again), meaning I had time Friday evening to visit with Mike, and his steadfast wife, Rosey, for a little over an hour. Mike was lying on the couch for the duration. Pain is being managed, such as it can be, with a patch. I kept the visit short, not just because I didn’t want to overdo things for him, but I was also pretty tired. I returned to their house Saturday morning, where they were joined by their loving daughters, there to help with a garage sale. For that, I was happy to see him able to sit in a chair, supervise the goings-on, and engage with people …
We also talked about the transition of his beloved Sipsey Street Irregulars blog to his son Matthew, who is off to a strong start, and I committed to doing what I can to support the continuation of the legacy.
I’m quite jealous of David, but I could have decided to commit the time to do this. It’s been very hard and busy lately, with pressing issues at work, family business, graduations, an upcoming marriage in the family, sickness with my father, and so on. I regret not having met him in person, but as I said before, we’ll meet in the new heavens and the new earth as old friends who recognize each other but in bodies that never get sick.
I’ve already exchanged email with Matt, and he sent me a very kind reply, very lengthy and very worthy of a long reply back again. I have a lot of things to say to him. I will find the time to do just that.
On April 27, 2016 at 11:16 am, bondmen said:
It is a special opportunity to be able say meaningfully held, close thoughts while there is still time. When the door closes and the lights go out there is no more communication until those remaining cross over. Then the dead will be judged and sent in one of two directions. It’s well worth knowing the Creator God and spending eternity in His kingdom.