I had one of those, “Gee, I wonder what ever happened to …” moments today. I thought of a guy I knew in high school, actually the first boy I ever kissed. We went to a dance together and maybe a party somewhere along the line. He attended a different school, so I didn’t see him very often.

Attractive and intelligent, he planned to be a doctor. I saw him last when he stopped by to visit me at college on his way to school in another state. After that, we lost touch. Today, we might have been friends on Facebook.

When he crossed my mind, I was already at my computer, so I googled him. Turns out he did become a doctor, later moving into the business aspects of medicine and eventually into international leadership in his church organization. Sadly, the first listing was his obituary. Unable to wrap my head around the fact that he was gone at the age of 56, I clicked on a link to a YouTube video tribute. I watched the heart of his story unfold. I saw him as a child and then in high school when I knew him. There were pictures from his wedding and the births of his children, followed by documentation of all the other special moments and people in his life. His thoughtfully written obituary described how his participation in bible study grew from an avocation into his vocation and led him to travel internationally for his organization.

I marvel that I didn’t recognize the seeds of this man in the boy that I knew. He was just another nice guy to me, but watching the tribute and reading his obituary, I learned about the man he became and how very special he really was. My sympathies go out to his family and friends and the many people he touched in his life.