Mr. Rick Page

My best friend, Rick Page, died yesterday (July 19th) a little after 3 PM. Although there is not yet an official cause of death, all indications point to a massive heart attack. It's hard to fathom that I will never again on this earth hear him sing, pray, laugh or ask for a cup of coffee. Rick and I were all about a good cup of coffee and good food. I will miss him.



He mentioned last Friday at our small group that he was ready to go. I said that I wasn't ready for him to go. Stubborn man that he was, he won that argument. Most arguments he won simply by being right. Of course, our arguments were never of the serious kind - just the sort of "disagreements" that friends have - which brand of coffee was better than the other; was creamer better than heavy whipping cream, etc. But we agreed mightily on almost everything - God, salvation, family, politics, food, music, fishing, life in general. I will miss him.



At our next to last small group, he cooked the meal - sausage and peppers with penne pasta. What a meal. The Sunday before that, he cooked a soup (which we agreed was NOT specifically a fall/winter thing) for the 2 of us (neither wife wanted any) which was potatoes, sausage, onion, garlic and fresh kale - what is known at Olive Garden as Zuppa Toscana - except that he added crushed tomatoes. In the vernacular of my granddaughters - OMG (which I am careful to let them know that it means "Oh, My Gosh" rather than the one that uses God rather inappropriately, I think)! I will miss him.

Rick went on several mission trips which he thoroughly enjoyed. Unfortunately, I was never able to go with him but I heard of how he used his voice and his guitar to worship God and invite those who did not know Jesus to come join Him. He was always a great addition to any mission team. At our last small group, he played his guitar and sang (the rest of us sang along, too) and it was a rare treat. I told him that I was thinking of learning to play the bass guitar so I could play with him and Jack Piccolo - I won't have that opportunity here on this earth. I will miss him.

Lord, how I will miss him.