I knew a man.
And then there were two boys.
And what a tale they could tell.
Death is never easy, it really doesn’t matter who you
are. If someone that you know dies it is
not important whether or not they were family, it was someone that you knew and
now……….. they are gone.
Yes, someone died.
And yes, it was hard. Yes, it was
sad. But harsh as it may sound the
reality is that life goes on. And it
does. So I don’t want to make this about
death, I much prefer to make it about life, and the wonderful gift we are
given, living.
That man? His name
was, or is for that matter, Wayne “Peabody” Hillhouse. Wayne was born in 1941 to a loving home. His family was a “nickname” family. And what I mean is that everyone in his
family has nicknames. And everybody that
knows them only refer to them by their nickname. His dad Bubba Hillhouse and his mom Sis
Hillhouse.
Those two boys? Well,
let’s just say that one of them lives every day of his life with his own
struggles, but he deals with it in his own way, mostly by writing. The other, was the younger brother to the
first. These two rambunctious, sometimes
mischievous boys were blessed to be born into a large family by most people’s
standards. Certainly they were blessed
to be born into a family filled with love, from the grandparents down to their
mom and dad, and their other two brothers and two sisters. Yep, these two boys were blessed each to have
two older sisters plus two older brothers.
Growing up the family was poor.
But these two never knew it.
Their bellies were full every night when they went to bed, and they had
clean clothes every morning when they woke up.
No, these two knuckle heads had no idea what poor even meant.
They had an older sister that became a nurse. She was like a second momma to them, and
affectionately they often called her Momma Joan. To this day, they still do. Upon high school graduation Joan went off to
Nursing School at Georgia Baptist School of Nursing way downtown in that huge
city called Atlanta. When these two boys
were just boys Atlanta was a world away from their country farm just outside of
Canton, GA where they grew up. Joan did
well in school and in just a few years she finished and began work almost
immediately ending up at Kennestone Hospital where she worked until her
retirement a few years ago.
I can’t remember exactly the date, but somewhere in the mid
1960’s Joan met this man, Peabody, and they dated. They fell in love. And they married.
But back up just a bit.
During that dating time, Joan brought Wayne home to meet her
parents and the rest of the family of course, including those two rambunctious
mischievous boys. That was quite a sight
to see I am certain. Here’s this fine
upstanding young man that grew up in a family as an only child. He was I am sure accustomed to a very
ordered, very calm, very quiet life at home.
Well, not in this house. Oh no. These two boys fit that old saying that
they’d drive the preacher to drinking.
They were wilder than a wildcat, noisier than a bunch of dogs fighting,
and fit perfectly that old saying, like a bull in a china shop…..except there
were two bulls. Imagine what must have
been going through this young man’s mind to be witness to such apparent craziness. He had I’m sure never seen anything quite
like it. But, he never said a word,
never complained, never questioned anything.
He just stared, and somewhat smiled.
But the amazing part……… He came
back.Yes, after that first time Joan took a chance and brought him back to her house a second time. This time, he surprised everyone; he actually got down in the floor with those two wild boys and started playing with them. He never had a chance really, they attacked him of course. But smiling and laughing with them, he let them pin him down on his back so that they could say that they won. What a guy huh?
I’m 57 years old now. I was probably 7 or 8 years old then. But I’ve never forgotten it, and I hope I never will. He made quite the impression on those two little boys. And at that moment I think, he became part of our family. It seems we couldn’t scare him off, so he just joined right in.
I am Gary Fowler, the other little boy is my brother Gene
Fowler, and from that day forward Wayne became more and more a part of our life
and a part of our family. He was or is
my brother-in-law, but he was as far as I was concerned like a brother.
When I was 18 years old during a revival at Holly Springs
Baptist Church on one night of the services after praying about it, I testified
that I wanted to share my calling of the Lord.
At that time there were other things happening around me, and I did
believe that I was called. It was a few
years later that I began to have many doubts as to just what my calling was, or
if it was for that matter. Of my
salvation I have no doubt. Of my calling
I just wasn’t sure anymore. On those
times that I stood and tried to present a message from the Bible, I struggled
mightily. I just never was able to
really put together a sermon of any real substance. Just ask anyone that ever sat though one of
my “sermons”, they will tell you. And
it’s okay, I know it was hard. It was
very difficult for me. It was during
that time that I felt like I needed to talk to someone, to seek counsel from
someone wiser than me, someone that might be able to help me sort everything
out. And I did. I went to a pastor friend of mine. He told me, and I believe he was earnest
about it, that the problem was that I was just not trusting God enough. That I just wasn’t praying enough. That I needed to pray and I needed to trust
God to lead me. With everything that is within my being, I believed that I was
doing that. But I knew something wasn’t
right.
What I’m about to share with you I’ve never told
anyone. But one day I went by my sister’s
house, and she wasn’t at home. But Wayne
was there. I’m not sure why, but I had a
very strong feeling that I needed to just tell someone what was going on in my
life and how unsure of everything that I was.
And at that moment the only someone available to me was Wayne. So I just started talking. He looked at me straight up; he gave me his
total undivided attention. I could tell that
he was listening. And when I was
finished I finally said, “I just don’t know what to do.”
Wayne looked at me and gave me the only advice that he ever
volunteered. He said to me “Gary, nobody
knows what’s right for you but you. You
can’t listen to other people telling you what you are supposed to be. You’ve got to listen to you and what you are
telling you that you are supposed to be.
‘Cause that voice that you hear, that’s God. He’s telling you, you just need to listen.”You know I did that. And it was not long that I knew, it wasn’t preaching that I was supposed to be doing. Not at all. My work was in sharing the gospel through song. And I began to listen to God, and God began to open doors. And for many years many doors were opened and I had the privilege to share the Good News of The Gospel of Jesus Christ through music.
After a few years another door was opened to me, I began to
teach. Over the years I’ve taught many
young people, and older people too for that matter. And of the young people that I taught and
coached musically, a few of them now are in full time professional music
careers. There’s a few that like me
share the Gospel through song.
Now you almost have to ask the question; “Would any of that
have ever come to pass if you had not sought counsel from Wayne?” And the answer is, I don’t know, I simply
don’t know. But what I do know is that I
did decide to share my heart with Wayne, and I listened to what he told
me. And I know how things worked
out. But would any of that happened had
I not been there at that time on that day?
I sincerely just don’t know. But
I do know this. His advice that day
changed me. It made me a better man, a
better person, and ultimately, a better Christian. So I’m thankful that I did open up to him
that day, and I give all the glory to God.
On the morning of February 10, 2015 the Lord called Wayne to
come home. It was sudden and
unexpected. Yes, it was sad. And on February 12th, those two
little boys, now grown men, walked with their Momma Joan, and their other
sister Cheryl and brother Eddie. And as
a family Joan laid her husband and our Brother to rest.
To those that are reading this I want to thank you for
allowing me to share. And if I can, I
want to encourage you as Wayne encouraged me that day; nobody knows you better
than you know you. When you hear that
voice inside you directing you, pulling you, encouraging you to go a certain
direction. You know what’s right for
you, listen close. If it’s God you will
know his voice. Trust him and live your
life as you know God wants you to.
Thanks Wayne, I won’t say bye, just I’ll see you in a little
bit.
