Out the Window
2-10-22

(Throwback Edition – from 4/1/2021)

Doubletree Hotel, Decatur, AL Room 521

[Context: I drove to Alabama to attend the funeral of a man who took me into his home and family for months when I was a teenager]

It was extremely special to attend Jerry McCaghren’s funeral service yesterday and to see the McCaghren family. Since I don’t know in years to come if we will have access to our social media posts, I’ll write mine in my journal. I posted some pictures: the line to the casket, the funeral home sign and the Decatur bridge over the river. Great men deserve to be honored and celebrated. I drove 500 miles to remember a man who brought me into his home and set a place at his table forty-two years ago. I lived with Jerry McCaghren, wife Sandra, twin sons Ronnie and Donnie and twelve year old daughter Theresa for months during the hardest time of my adolescence. I will never forget him. I was called “Joey” here before I moved to Georgia and became “Joe”. They’ve never called me anything differently and it’s a reminder of their enormous help transitioning into adulthood. I’ve spoken at about 100 youth camps in my lifetime but couldn’t ever really afford one growing up as a teenager. Jerry paid for the only one I ever went to and “carried me” to Meridian, MS to go to a basketball camp. Pandemic nor awful weather could stop these people from honoring a great life. Richard Rohr said, “Death is largely a threat to those who have not yet lived.” Jerry lived and he touched many lives including a broken down teenager. I love him.