I Knew Exactly Who Was Standing Behind Me

Kathy and I attended a wedding today in Forsyth Georgia for her cousin’s daughter. We knew we would get to see and visit at least some of her many cousins. When we arrived at the church I began to see familiar faces in addition to the Underwood family I was expecting. It turned out that the “out of town” groom was related to some of my life long friends who grew up in Reynolds.

As you can imagine, I was having a good time visiting with people I haven’t seen in a long time. At the reception someone came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder and asked me what I was doing at this wedding.

Before I turned around I knew exactly who was standing behind me.



Jimmy Childre, Jr and I were born 17 days apart. In eight days he will celebrate his 52nd birthday. Seventeen days after that I will celebrate mine.

He will get a call from me a week from tomorrow. He may be at home or in North Carolina or in England, but he will get that call. And on September 20th I will get a call from him. I may be at home or in Oklahoma or in Texas. But I will get that call.

We’ve faithfully made those calls all of our adult life.

Jimmy and I were christened together at the Reynolds Methodist Church over 50 years ago. We have been like brothers ever since. We went to grade school together for most of our grade school years. He moved away for a few of those years but came back. When his little brother was in Maryland having heart surgery, Jimmy lived with us.

We attended high school together in nearby Fort Valley and were inseparable those years. We rode together every day.

Jimmy and I played no telling how many rounds of golf together at the Reynolds Golf Course. It was not all serious golf either.

We laughed a lot on the golf course. In fact we laughed a lot together all of our lives.

We both made the golf team our freshman year at Fort Valley High. We should have made it. We had plenty of practice.

We took the SAT together twice. The first time we took it I made 50 points higher than him. The second time he made 50 points higher than me. Or maybe it was the other way around

We went our separate ways after high school. Jimmy attended Georgia Southern in Statesboro and I attended the University of Georgia. We both graduated four years later.

Jimmy joined his dad in the car business in Sandersville. I came back to Reynolds and joined my dad in the funeral business.

On several occasions in recent years Jimmy has introduced me at different events where I was speaking. His introductions are a speech in themselves. The first time he did that I could hardly talk when I got to the podium. It was personal. It was emotional. And having him introduce me gave me instant credibility with the audiences.

Let me tell you why.

Jimmy has become a scholar. He has studied extensively throughout the world receiving his Global Executive MBA from the Fuqua School of Business of Duke University. He even gave the commencement address for his graduating class. He has received other certifications and is currently studying at the University of Cambridge in England. He stays there for weeks at a time and then comes back to check on his business. He was recently the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Georgia Southern University Foundation and serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Washington County Hospital Authority in Sandersville. He has served on numerous Boards with Ford Motor Company and the list goes on.

Not too bad for a boy who grew up in Reynolds, GA - population 1200.

A couple of years ago Jimmy was in the process of making a major decision about his public life. I bet we talked at least ten times as he was making that decision.

If you cannot tell, I am proud of my friend. He has done well for himself. And he ain’t done yet.

But I am more proud that he is my friend.

I heard him make a comment today to someone. He said that Kathy probably knows me better than anyone but he wouldn’t be far behind.

He is right.

I heard Lee Iacocca say one time that his father used to say when you die if you’ve got five real friends you’ve had a great life.

When you view life from a hearse you need at least six.

But those kind of friendships don’t happen overnight.

This one didn't either.

It was really nice seeing one of my real friends today.