Far Too Soon

Brian and Christel Houston are old friends of mine. I was very young and very hurt by some hard times in our church when they came on the scene and took over music for a time. Though they weren't a whole lot older than I was, their maturity was well beyond their years, and their love, devotion, and joy of living were overwhelming and infectious.

Many years ago they moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. We stayed in touch, though less and less over the years.

Now, suddenly, Brian is gone.

It's unimaginable to me. You see, you'd have to know Brian. Brian had an IQ somewhere past 175 and a sense of humor to match. In other words, he was very funny, but in a very geeky sort of way. Just a brief conversation would have you realize that his mind was running circles around yours, yet you'd never feel bad. It was like watching a cat chase a squirrel around the yard; fast, and fur flying everywhere.

His skills on the piano were stunning. He had hundreds of piano arrangements stored up in his head and he could transcribe them from memory on request (never on demand, he was way too nice to ever be put upon that way.)

He had nearly boundless energy and his every act was motivated by love. He wanted you to laugh and smile, and he put joy in your very footsteps. I can't believe he's gone.

I'm thinking of Christel right now. You see, they were a team like very few others I'd ever met. They were the right and left hand of a whole, and when they worked together, they could accomplish as much as a whole team of normal folks. Now she's without her teammate, and I can't begin to imagine how much that hurts. She probably doesn't realize it yet, either.

I want to call her, but it's probably too soon. There are a million things to do and so many other people and I'd probably just end up talking about me by mistake anyway and, well, that won't help. Perhaps in another week or two, when things have settled down a bit, when it's not so busy, when people have begun to go back to their own lives, when Christel is just starting to think about how the heck she's supposed to do this by herself now, then I'll call, and it can be all about Brian, and we can take our time and hopefully it will help, just a little.

Godspeed, Brian, and wait for us there on that Golden Shore.