Shall We Gather at the River?

 November 25 2007

In this service: Dad opens the gathering with Shall We Gather at the River?, sister does much of the worship leading, niece and brother-in-law share about recent travels to El Barbasco, Honduras. 

Hello Readers,

I like how this hymn opens with a question and then answers it over and over with each refrain. Similarly, I gathered this week with my loved ones to remember my Uncle Butch who died 10/19/2025 at age 81. He lived a full life up to his final moments. He coached a runner on Saturday. He called his sister and niece (me) on Tuesday. He sent a birthday card to his great, great, nephew. He even went out and finished a serving of shrimp scampi with his wife of over 50 years, who had no idea this would be their last meal together. Uncle Butch delighted in his yard and especially found pleasure in decorating for the holidays. He told me on the phone last week that they had some lights out and a big spider for Halloween. The tradition was to exchange the spider for a turkey in November. How fun is that? After the scampi, he told my aunt he needed to go and fix those lights. He spent his final moments fiddling with those decorations in a yard he loved to keep just so. 

I am glad I got a chance to talk to him one more time, take a deep breath at his political humor, share updates about our families, and most importantly, end the conversation with some 'I love yous'. 

Here's what it was like for me growing up with Uncle Butch and Aunt Jan. Aunt Jan took care to go shopping with me and make sure I got the best deals and that I tried stuff on that I would never have considered and found out I liked. She told me stories about growing up and laughed (until she cried sometimes) at jokes and loved her mom fiercely (she called her mom every day-- this was incredible to me.) Uncle Butch was a busy sort of guy. He liked to be doing things such as taking long runs (before running was a thing), playing golf (this includes Putt-Putt), going to movies. If you turned your back on him he might be gone, and you might miss out on a fun opportunity. One fond memory is when Uncle Butch was visiting us in Virginia, and he asked if anyone wanted to go to the movies with him. I hopped in the car, the next thing I knew, we were in line outside a packed theater waiting to see The Empire Strikes Back (maybe you've heard of it, ha!). A true blockbuster. In fact, a photograph of the line was in the local paper the next week. Uncle Butch took care of himself, he avoided caffeine, he didn't drink coffee like most adults I knew. However, when I was young, you could count on him to have huge cans of Hawaiian Punch or Hi C that he liked to mix with 7 Up. 

One of the most special memories of all was when Jeremy was born and we got to go see him for the first time. Aunt Jan greeted us at the door and she had wet hair -- hmmmm I'll let you fill in the rest of the story, I'll just say she was laughing/beaming with delite at her little boy. Uncle Butch may as well have had a camera phone as we do now because his huge camera was close by at all times ready to take photos of his new son. Even Aunt Jan knew how to use it. I remember Uncle Butch grabbing Jeremy for a nap on the couch together and putting Jeremy on his chest, without breaking a beat in the conversation, Aunt Jan grabbed the camera and snapped a photo. As a nine-year-old at the time, I was more than delighted to have a new cousin. For the next few years Jeremy and I played together and I followed him around at each family gathering. 

My love to all of you: Aunt Jan, Jeremy, Leighanne, Jackson, and Tanner as I know my few memories, as deep as they are, do not compare to the number you have and the painful path you are trodding as you say good-bye. 

Stay well.

Thanks for reading,

Amy BH