I’m back and circumstances have aligned themselves in the horizons to give me impetus to do another of these “messages” prior to our Christmas Odyssey. The Christmas holidays are a melancholy time for me. The family from which I came is all gone. Mom 47, Dad 74, David 71, Douglas 54, Gregory 59–little too much alcohol in our family, but that is a story for another day. My other family or as I say, “The one I sort of helped create” is doing fine–three wonderful children and six equally wonderful grandchildren.
I just don’t get all that excited about Christmas and am more of a Thanksgiving sort of guy. This morning, I did what I do every year at this time. I walk around the house, Diet Coke in hand, looking at all the photos Diane has been so kind to place wherever appropriate. I look at the old ones first and reflect on pleasant memories of years gone by, notice the smiling faces of my parents and brothers and wish them all a happy holiday, tell them I love them and then move on to the next generation of Taylors and think to myself, “Gord, you are lucky to have all this and boy we’ve had some great times, haven’t we. Jennifer 48 the star tennis player, Gordon III 45 averaging 60 points a game on the hardcourt and Ryan 39 endlessly pitching no-hitter after no-hitter. Gosh it was fun.” There are some photos of Diane and I think, as many of you have told me, “Gordy, you sure married up and I did.” So that’s what I do, and I’m pretty much done for this year except for that Odyssey I will talk about later.
Something happened the past week that just yells at me, “Gord, this is what Christmas is all about. Share the Dick Hunter Story” and I will. A week ago he wasn’t even on my radar but today he is. I hardly know the man and have been with him only a handful of times but then again, I really do “know the man.” I graduated from Western in 1968 and Dick in 1970. I was a Seal Hall RA, and he was a member of TKE so our paths never crossed but as an alum, he got the Western News and during my tenure as the “alumni guy” he would occasionally write me (people wrote letters back then) a kind note about one of my Across the Miles columns. We would visit occasionally at an alumni event in Atlanta but that was about it.
Then, in 2010 I got base of tongue cancer. Yipes, pretty serious stuff. Now I was in a fog most of the time but not Diane. Every afternoon as I sat in bed with that damn feeding tube hooked from my stomach to “the machine,” she would quietly enter the bedroom and deliver the days good wishes from folks that had reached out to me. It was the highlight of my otherwise rather dreary existence, and it helped to pass the time. Every so often there would be a book, a book mind you, from one Richard Hunter. Now this wasn’t Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals or some Steven Ambrose biography he would send. No, it was some silly book about life in the rural South or home cooking on an island or whatever, BUT it made me laugh out loud. It was terrific and much needed tonic for me. I don’t know if I ever said thank you so let me do it now–“Thanks Dick Hunter, you helped me through some dark times and I have never forgotten that.”
Now, about the darn Tau Kappa Epsilon thing. Fortunately, many of Dick’s fraternity brothers are in that 4th Quarter like many of us, and some of them are having health challenges of their own. I won’t mention them by name but he stays in touch with the widow of one of his “brothers, ‘ has reached out to two others and helped them battle the “alcohol thing,” been there for another with all sorts of maladies, and most recently has been extremely helpful to another fraternity brother with life threatening issues. Who does this? Why does he do this? Rest assured, Mr. Hunter has agenda items of his own but still he is there for others in their time of need. It just takes a special kind of person to reach out to someone in need and Dick Hunter is one of them, and the world is a better place to live because he walks among us. Dick Hunter “gets it” and he doesn’t just talk about writing the note, or paying a visit, or even sending a book, he does it, and he lives the spirit of Christmas each and every day. The world could use quite a few more Dick Hunters.
Okay, now about that Odyssey. It’s pretty quiet here on Indian Trail but that is about to change as we need some Christmas spirit so off we go. On December 16th we take Amtrak to Chicago to visit Ryan, Margaret, and young Dan 11 months. On the 19th we fly to Corpus Christi to be with Jennifer, John, Luke 15, James 11, Paul 8 and dog Rocko (no age given). On the 26 it’s back to Chicago and on the 27th we fly to Cleveland to be with Gordon, Lisa, Ava 7, and Kent 2. Not done yet. On the 30th we fly back to Chicago and on January 2nd we take Amtrak back to Macomb. Diane and I are not the brightest bulbs in the bunch but by God, we are going to see them all. Best wishes to everyone for a joyous holiday season and a healthy, happy 2020.
By the way, when we are in Texas, I will get to see a snake eat a mouse if I’m lucky compliments of James.
Gordy and the Fourth Quarter 