Three Rights Make a Left

A few years ago, I told you the story of how I re-connected with friend Lee McDermott, a successful insurance man here in Forney who I knew as a kid in Floresville, Texas south of San Antonio. There is a very cool addition to the story, albeit a sad and glorious circumstance.

First, I have to recount the story a little bit. It was 1998 and I was running for Kaufman County Commissioner for the first time. I was knocking doors on Jennifer Circle when I received a very pleasant shock. As I remember it, the woman who answered the door seemed familiar from the start. After a few questions we realized that we knew each other from Floresville, Texas. Her name was Stella McDermott and she was staying with her son Lee and daughter-in-law Jo Dee. Stella was one of my mom’s best friends and Lee’s father Jim was a preacher who inspired me to want to be a preacher when I was a kid. As a matter of fact Jim had built the Church building I grew up in back in Floresveille. Jo Dee came to the door and told me her Uncle Raford was running for commissioner too. Lee wasn’t home at the time but we connected later and we have been close friends ever since along with Jo Dee, Joey, Blair and I have even gotten to see his brother Mike a couple of times.

Last week Lee’s father Jim went home to his welldeserved reward and I was honored when Lee asked me to speak at the graveside service for his Dad’s funeral in Sherman, Texas. His dad had made such an impact on so many people in his lifetime that his passing was a joyous celebration. I knew I would see a lot of people I knew from Church in Floresville almost fifty years ago but I had no idea how many old friends I would see. It has been observed that members of the Church of Christ can’t get into heaven without a covered dish because we love to have pot-luck dinners. So, true to custom, we had a great meal at the Parkview Church of Christ in Sherman, before the visitation, funeral and graveside service. At the meal I got to meet a lot of Lee’s family. My classmate Caroline, her brother Cecil, her mother. I got to see a few friends that had married into Lee’s family including a girl who’s family owned the Arcadia Theater back in Floresville. Her younger brother Reagan, ran the projector at the theater and I had terrific times siting with him in the balcony.

There was a guy at the meal that looked very distinct. He had a beard and mustache but in his eyes there was something that seemed familiar. As Lee was talking to him he motioned me over for an introduction. Lee said: “This is my cousin’s husband Chris Powell, he is an Art Professor at TCU and head of the Ceramics Department. My draw dropped. I said: “You were my roommate when you were an art student a Abilene Christian University.”

I could tell he was trying to process what I had said so I went on: “We lived in a house at N 18th and Grape across the street from Friendly Ed’s Waterbeds.” He still looked a little confused, so I called Lori over and said: “Lori, this is Chris Powell from De Queen Arkansas, my old roommate.” Lori recognized him immediately and then the light went on in Chris’ eyes. I gave Chris my card and promised to go to Fort Worth soon and see his department at TCU.

As I said in the headline: The longer I live, the less I believe in coincidence.