My daughter Tonia, Alice Demarest, Carlos Demarest, My wife Cheri 1997
In 1999, our dear friend Carlos Demarest, after a long illness, went home be with to the Lord. For me, he put another perspective on Heaven. When I see him there I know he’ll have that big grin on his face with his outstretched arm, wanting to give me a big handshake and a welcome to Heaven! This story is about something funny that occurred at Carlos’ funeral. Cheri and I were close friends of Alice and Carlos and what I’m writing here was certainly not in any way intended to disrespect the event going on.
The staff at BPS El Paso rode one of our busses to Milford, Ohio for his home going. The bus broke down on the way, and we all knew that would have put a smile on Carlos’ face! We each stayed in different homes in Milford. My family and I stayed at Pastor Keen’s home, on the Milford church property. That home has a very nice basement apartment. The bathtub in that apartment was a little slippery. The morning of the funeral Cheri was taking a shower. One of my children ran up to me and said, “Dad! In the bathroom we heard a scream, a crash, a thud, and a groan!” I immediately ran to the bathroom and went in. Cheri had slipped in the tub, did a flip (the scream), as she flipped, the shower curtain wrapped around her and ripped the shower rod out off the wall (the crash), and she hit the floor outside the tub, landing on her bottom (the thud). The groan followed. Now folks, I love my wife very much. The first words out of my mouth were “Are you okay?” I said those words through clenched teeth, hoping she was okay, because I could barely hold back my laughter. She was shook up and a little sore, but praise God she was okay. We got to the funeral and over a thousand people were there. Cheri and Alice (Carlos’ wife) were best of friends and Cheri wanted to see to her, but with so many people it took several hours before we got a chance to talk to her. When we finally got face to face, Alice was already pretty worn out from the stress and busyness of the funeral. Alice asked Cheri, “Where are you staying?” Cheri said, “We’re staying at the Pastor’s house.” Alice flashed a big smile, held up her hand, and said, “Okay, what happened there that made it memorable?” (She knew goofy things were always happening to us, especially when we stayed somewhere special). Cheri proceeded to tell her about the bathtub incident. Well, all the stress Alice had built up, and the complete ridiculousness of Cheri’s story got Alice (and Cheri) laughing uncontrollably. Alice laughed so hard she started to cry. She had to sit down, laughing and crying. Unknowing people, who saw the crying, were coming up and putting their arms around her trying to comfort her, and that made both of them laugh all the more! I told Alice that I was really glad Cheri was okay, because I sure would’ve felt bad if I had to sue the pastor! Haha! Later, Alice thanked Cheri for being such a great stress reliever. Cheri appreciated doing whatever she could to help, but preferred not to be an acrobat in order to help someone in the future. God is good.
Grandpa Jack's Place 