Sweet Memories

As I was going through some old photos tonight from a missions trip I took back in '96 (which I'm posting about next week), I found this....Oy vei....I was so young!  I looked like a baby!  (The only thing is, I can't imagine why I wasn't smiling; I was in Hawaii, for goodness sake!  No, the missions trip was not in Hawaii, but Hawaii was part of it.....an awesome pitstop!:))

Then I turned the picture over, and on the back was a note written from a dear friend who was also on that trip.  His name was Bruce, and he had brought his twin son and daughter; he had been planning this trip with them for a long time.  He wrote on the back, "Mel, You are beautiful!  Good Luck- Bruce.....

I know that doesn't seem like much, but it almost brought me to tears.  You see, when I was in college, I got a phone call one morning that Bruce had been killed.  He left behind his wife and kids.  He had gotten hit while riding his bike that morning.  Bruce was an awesome husband and father....I know, because of the way he handled himself while on the missions trip, the way he treated all of us, as if we were his own kids.  He was kind, he couldn't stop talking about his wife, whom you could tell he loved very much.  He was there, like a father figure to all of us.....so, I just had to post this and say that he has been missed all of these years, but some day we will see him again.  I'm just thankful for the memories.