Chuck

Chuck Browder was our next-door neighbor back in Lake Stevens. He died this week of Lou Gehrig's disease. They announced it at the school where the kids had attended.

We knew it was coming. He'd known of it a couple years before we moved away, but didn't announce it to the general public for quite a while, not wanting to be showered with sympathy. He was not comfortable with a lot of attention from others, not that kind of attention, especially when there was nothing that could be done about it.

Chuck was a family man, truly devoted to his family. He was hard-working, a man who used his hands - he was in the construction business - and liked to make things for his family, things like backyard playgrounds and frontyard fishponds. He loved pretty flowers, and did a good job keeping his yard nice.

Seems like every Saturday, the Browders would be garage-sale shopping. They found some great bargains, too, and as was typical of Chuck, he always kept his friends and neighbors in mind. He'd come home with a bicycle that was just the right size for one of our kids, and ask us if we'd like it, not with the idea of selling it to us, but just to give it as a gift. He'd find curious knick-knacks that he knew might appeal to somebody, and he'd just buy 'em. He loved to share with people.

Chuck was willing to share a lot of things, including his tools and his truck, which we used on more than one occasion to make trips to the dump. Of course, he'd managed to get a great deal on the truck, too!

One of the nicest things Chuck did for me, was to put together the fence between our yards. The old one was over thirty years old, infested with carpenter ants, and falling down in places. We'd agreed that to share the cost of buying it and putting it up, but as it ended up, I paid for the materials and he nailed it all together - in one day! I thought it was very nice of him not to mention my terrible carpentry skills and just do all the work himself. Or maybe he was just worried that I might accidentally drop the boards into his yard and hurt someone!

I loved to listen to him talk. Oh, he was a talker! He always had good stories to tell, and a lively, exuberent way of telling them, and it was always a joy to wander over to his house and stand between the yards and listen to him go on about the jobs he'd done or the cars he'd fixed or the plans he had for fixing up his yard or his kids. He sure loved his kids, and that's perhaps the most painful part of his passing, that he won't get to see his kids grow up into their adult selves, and develop that grown-up relationship with them.

Well, if they ever ask me what he was like, I'll be glad to tell them. He was a great Dad, and they are great kids. From all the time I spent with them, they were two of the happiest, most well-behaved, polite kids I'd ever met. Can't say how they are right now, as I haven't seen them for nearly two years, but I trust that Margaret will help them get through this rough time; she's a strong, capable woman, and she and Chuck seemed like a perfect match. I just wish they'd had more time to spend together.

Wish I'd had more time to spend with him, too. He was the epitome of the perfect neighbor.

God bless you, Chuck. And may he bring comfort to you, Margaret, and those lovely kids.