I Hope They Were Serious

(LaGrange, GA) Life on the road can take you down some interesting paths. Last night was one of those times.

I was in town to speak to the Hospice Volunteer Banquet at the local country club. This group has a front row seat on this thing called death and they obviously deal with the pain and heartache that comes along with it on a daily basis.

I think they needed to see the lighter side and if not, they sure acted like it. This crowd was rocking from the get-go and of course I feed off those kinds of audiences.

It was way too much fun. And I was reminded again why I keep speaking.

I was also reminded of how fun and important it is to take time to connect with people along the journey.

As I have mentioned many times in these articles, staying in hotel after hotel gets old. Sometimes I get invited to stay at someone’s house but I usually decline to do that. It’s just easier and less complicated to stay in a hotel.

Last night I accepted the invitation to stay at Thelon and Pat Hamby’s home. I hope they were serious about inviting me.

Thelon, like me, grew up in the funeral business. Unlike me, he and his family were in it big time. For you folks in Georgia, you know that Striffler-Hamby Mortuary in Columbus is a big time funeral home. They did more funeral calls in a month than we did in a year in Reynolds.

Anyway, I have known Thelon for years and his family firms (Columbus, Phenix City and LaGrange) are a part of the company I work for so I see him on fairly regular basis.

But I have never taken the time to do what we did last night.


When Thelon and Pat moved from Columbus and purchased their beautiful home in LaGrange, Pat gave Thelon the basement to use as he wished. Thelon has created a baseball museum. He has an incredible collection of baseball memorabilia. You wouldn’t believe it. The walls are covered with framed autographed jerseys, photos, and everything and anything you can imagine. Most of the collection is relating to the Atlanta Braves. And there is a story behind each item.

He also has authentic autographs of people like Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb.

Absolutely incredible.

This diehard baseball fan was in hog heaven.

But there was more.

The three of us ended up sitting down in this “basement museum” and talked and laughed for a couple of hours. I learned about their two daughters and son in law. They learned about our three sons and two daughters in law and our little grandbaby on the way. We also exchanged some stories that only undertaker families would appreciate.

The bottom line is I was reminded again how important it is for all of us to take time to smell the roses and connect with people along the way.

I smelled the roses last night and connected with some wonderful people. I am very glad I skipped the hotel last night.

I just hope they were serious when they invited me to spend the night.