Ending life well…..

Yesterday I said goodbye to a friend. Well, I actually said, I’ll see you again soon. Phil Fox was a wonderful man. I loved him and, I still love him, but then, Phil was so easy to love. Phil was a great family man, and he had a great family. His wife Joyce, his sons, Phil Jr., Dale, and Marcus are all great people. I suspect that they got that way because of Phil’s and Joyce’s sterling example.

I first met Phil when I went to work for Doug Blair at Richland Coal. Everyone loved Phil, and I never heard a single person say a negative thing about him. Some time ago I got an email about the dash between your year of birth and the year you leave this earth. The dash is what you did with your life. More importantly, who you blessed with your life. Phil’s life between 1940 and 2011 made a lot of lives better. He had countless friends, raised a great family, was a wonderful husband to Joyce.

I’m honored that Phil called me a friend. If my “dash” is anything like as good as Phil’s then I will have lived a good life. When we loose a friend that knows our Lord, we don’t say goodbye, you say “see you later, my friend”…..

I miss you and love you Phil, I’m looking forward to catching up one of these days….

the pilgrim

The Hat?

Thought you would never ask…..

Phil wanted something to express his appreciation to people that been praying for him during his battle with melanoma. The hat idea seemed ideal since he was “known” for the hats he wore. The quote was given to him in a dream he had about a dear friend that had died from cancer a few years ago. In the dream, his friend appeared and told him, remember these words; “Lord of Lords, King of Kings, Jesus is His name.”

Three weeks later, Phil was diagnosed with melanoma cancer that eventually took his life. He had these hats made and wore HIS HAT, conversations started with curious strangers and Phil was able to share his faith with them. He would say, “It’s not my hat, It’s not your hat, It’s Jesus hat! and one size fits all….” Way to go Phil, and the way to live, as well………

the pilgrim

*Photo Note: D7000, 24-120 AFS VR