Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: QUESTION (S) (05/30/19)
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TITLE: Tell Me Why | Previous Challenge Entry
By Janene Bever
06/03/19 -
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“Why aren’t there any houses here?” “What’s a desert?” “What are all those holes in the rocks?” “What are bats?” “Why do they live in caves?” “ How big are they?” “Do bats water ski too?”
Endless questions bubbled out of our 5 year old son during the 4 1/2 hour drive to Lake Havasu. We, his parents and grandparents, eagerly anticipating four days of sun and fun on the water, found them cute and amusing for about the first quarter of the trip. After that we frantically searched for a way to convince him to lay down and take a nap. He loved to sleep, but not on his way to Lake Havasu in the car.
To say that Paul, a.k.a. Pollywog, was inquisitive would be akin to saying Elvis Presley could carry a tune. He drilled (no pun intended) our dentist on his first little boy visit causing Dr. Solomon to follow him to the waiting room afterward. “He’s very bright” he quipped, then added ”It’s up to you to nurture and develop that gift.” Too much guilt entered into the memory of that last statement over the years.
His enthusiasm for life never waned. He never lost that “why” factor. His kindergarten teacher fondly nicknamed him “motor mouth.” During a day at Disneyland when he was about 4, his dad and I had let him fall behind a bit and looked back to see him talking to two Catholic Nuns. As I retraced my steps to retrieve him, I saw their joyful faces and heard them both break out in laughter. It seems he had walked up to one, tugged on her habit and asked “hey, do you guys live up there with God?”
He peppered complete strangers at the supermarket with questions. When one lady came back at him with a question of her own, he lingered a long look on her and then shocked us both with the statement “you’re a dumb head.” “That’s not a nice thing to say” I sternly hissed. He replied with his favorite three letter, one word question.
Though he eventually developed enviable social skills, he didn’t go on to become what the world might label a success. He was wiggly in school and easily distracted. His second grade teacher adored him but shared with us “he isn’t an indoor boy”. His dad was a swimming pool excavator and he much preferred riding high up on the tractor from an early age.
Barely a pre-teen, he discovered a taste for alcohol. We caught him sipping from guests glasses at home parties when he thought we weren’t looking. No one took it seriously, simply laughed and good naturedly scolded him. We weren’t aware back then of the danger. New parents used to rub their babies gums with whiskey to sooth sore gums during teething. This was before people became aware that alcoholics weren’t only skid row bums. It was way ahead of the drug crisis that we have become so familiar with.
For decades, our handsome, charismatic, intelligent, humorous and full of wonder son succumbed to the demons of alcohol and drug addiction. But, finally, after rivers of tears and years of prayer, he asked the most important question of his life. Who can save me from this hell?
The Holy Spirit instantly responded and he gave his life to Jesus Christ. Joy made a home in him as he shared his new faith with others. Sobriety rewarded him with victory as he became a blessing to those who still struggled with addiction.
He adored his only son and was awarded full custody after a difficult, emotional 8 year battle. Then, in 2015, after many long, single years, he reconnected with his grade school sweetheart who completed him with a happiness that had eluded him for so long.
Then suddenly, unexpectedly, on a cold morning in January of 2018, a jarring phone call from the E.R. Our beloved Pollywog breathed his last breath and entered into the presence of our Lord. Oh my God … why so soon? Still so young.
We’re heartbroken. His fiancé is shattered. Family and friends miss him terribly. Still, we’re comforted. He is more alive now than he ever was on earth where he traveled a land that was not his home.
Today we wholeheartedly believe he’s excitedly firing questions at the only One who can answer them all.
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I would like some hints at first in the article about how it will end.
I know it was sudden, but as an article, it gives us more chance to appreciate the person's life if while we read we can at least have a hint of the tragedy of death looming.