10/26/2020
The Greatest Man I Ever Knew...
He wasn’t great by proclaiming his own greatness like “Muhammad Ali”.
He wasn’t great by being a famous celebrity like “The Rock”... although he was in my mind “the official Duane Johnson.”
He was great because he did exactly what the greatest man to ever step foot on this planet said it really takes to be great.
I’ll share what that is a little later so keep reading...
Saturday night at 10:15pm, my dad was finally set free from the prison of his failing body and brain.
And right now he’s probably back to running sub five minute miles again like he did in high school.
If I had to choose only one word to describe my dad it’s this...
Servant.
He could be firm when he needed to be firm but he was always a gentleman at heart.
He was a tender-hearted, gentle-man.
But that’s not all he was.
He was also a soldier.
Put the two together and you have what best describes him...
A tender-hearted soldier.
He was an officer in the Air Force for 26yrs.
And it would have been even longer except he chose to stop just short of becoming “General Duane Johnson.”
You see... our family was about to be stationed in Germany which was his last work assignment required to achieve the prestigious rank of General.
But the problem was, Germany didn’t have great high school football.
So instead of becoming General Johnson, he retired and we moved to Colorado so he could give me the best chance to live out my dream.
He sacrificed his dream for mine.
He’s far too humble to draw attention to that sacrifice though, so he never told me.
It was only recently I finally learned that hidden story from my mom.
He lived to serve...
His God. His country. His wife. His kids. His grandkids. And his neighbors.
He would instantly drop anything he was doing when he saw a chance to help people. And that made everyone feel like they really mattered.
The thing he loved to do more than anything else was giving gifts.
He travelled a lot in the military. Almost every month. And every time he’d come home, I couldn’t wait to see what little gift he’d bring back for me.
He would even cut out the gift claim coupon from every cereal box and mail it in so I could get the little toy in the mail as a surprise.
He was also a master carpenter so he loved to “make gifts.”
All of his kids and grandkids have owned at least one custom piece of furniture, bean bag toss game, skateboard ramp, or something unique he crafted in his wood-shop.
His list of hidden talents gets even better though because he was also a master cartoonist. He loved to draw funny cartoons of me playing sports. And he would even draw cartoons of my friends for them. I loved to watch as their eyes would light up and they’d smile as they saw their own personal cartoon character come to life as he drew.
But by far, the most generous gift he gave was the gift of his time.
He spent thousands of hours throwing me passes and rebounding all my shots and filming every single one of my games.
He and my mom never missed any of my high school and college games. He’d fly home from his out of state jobs every week, drive 9hrs with my mom to Montana or wherever we were playing, watch the game, and turn right around and drive back to Colorado on Sunday. Then he’d fly back to work on Monday. And repeat it all over again every week. He was my biggest fan.
A tender-hearted soldier. A loving husband and father. A selfless servant to all. And even a mission-driven carpenter.
That was my dad. But I’m also talking about our ultimate dad he reflected so well in how he lived and loved... Jesus.
At one point, near the end of His ministry two of Jesus’ disciples and their mom pleaded with Jesus to allow them to be his right and left hand men in his kingdom. Basically the highest positions of power.
When the other ten disciples heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. But Jesus called all of them to Himself and said, "Most rulers dominate their people like dictators with power and authority. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as I came not to be served but to serve, and to give my life away as a ransom for many."
Jesus did that for his family (which includes all of us who believe in him) and my dad did it for his family and for anyone who had the privilege of knowing him.
If you knew him, he left an indelible mark on your life in some way or another. No one could spend even five minutes with him without liking him and remembering him.
I remember one of our neighbors in Colorado once saying “He is the best example of a real Christian I’ve ever seen.”
Here’s why she said that...
He was constantly engaging with and teaching things to her kids and all the other neighborhood kids.
A lot like how children used to flock to Jesus. They couldn’t get enough of Him. And when the disciples wanted to turn the kids away. Jesus said no. Let them come to me for the kingdom of heaven is for children such as these.
My dad was the same way. He loved kids and they flocked to him.
So that’s my pops.
What a great privilege my mom had to be his wife. My siblings and I had to be his kids. And our kids had to be his grandkids.
But I’d be remiss if I stopped there without telling you about the other greatest influence in my life... my mom.
Talk about the definition of a soldier’s wife and the strongest supermom and grandma ever.
When she made the vow 54yrs ago to love him “till death do us part” she meant it.
The focus of her entire life has always been caring for and serving others.
With all she’s been through over the last decade of my dad’s deteriorating condition, I’ve never heard her complain even once. She could have easily thrown in the towel and put my dad in a nursing home or hired around the clock in-home nursing care but she refused. She had made a wedding vow and was committed to seeing it through to the end no matter what.
Despite daily pain in her hands and back and hip, she was dad’s around the clock caregiver. She bathed him, made food for him, managed all his personal hygiene, and I mean ALL OF IT, studied nutrition and advanced medical treatments as if she was back in college again. And cared for him in ways that can only be described as superhuman.
She was modeling her Lord and Savior Jesus.
The night before his crucifixion, Jesus took off his outer coat, wrapped it around his waist, and used it to wash every one of his disciples’ dirty stinking feet. Which by the way was a task considered so gross and lowly that it was only performed by slaves at the time.
In the same way, my mom washed and bathed my dad’s entire body daily for years. Even up till the last hour before he passed as she cleaned him, administered medicines, applied cream to his bedsores, moistened his drying mouth and lips, and stayed up all night for days applying cold towels to keep the fever in check.
She served him in every way imaginable...
Even when she was totally exhausted. She fed him first even when she was starving. And had seemingly unlimited patience with him even when he didn’t understand her or was just being stubborn.
My mom and dad are the best examples I’ve ever seen of letting Jesus display His unconditional love through how they lived.
I know this was supposed to be a eulogy for my dad... but there’s no way I couldn’t eulogize my mom too since the two of them together are the ultimate examples of marriage the way God intended it to be. One flesh...till death did they part.
Now my call to action for all of us is my dad’s senior quote from his high school yearbook, which I also borrowed for my own.
“Tis love that makes the arms go round.”
So hug someone today and tell them you love them. And then get busy living like it too.
