Q - Quixotic (Chuck)

Today's post for this month's theme of people who have affected my life is dedicated to Chuck McMichael.

And Chuck gets the letter Q because someone had to get it and it has proven difficult to get everyone assigned to each of the letters. I chose the word quixotic because, much like Don Quixote, Chuck is always ready to take on the world. Even if it just beats him up.

I met Chuck in college. Chuck, like me, foolishly took on the rigors of higher education after getting married and having children. In fact, all my old friends from college were in the same situation. I think the harrowing experience of us getting together each night to lament "What were we thinking?" was the common bond that cemented our lifelong friendships.

Chuck's family and mine all lived in the same apartment building in Married Student Housing. They even lived in the same stairwell. Sometimes one of us could just yell out the front door and get the other's attention.

Because all the people in the complex were in the same basic situation (classes all day, part-time job, family life, finding time for homework, etc), we had somewhat similar schedules. Our lives did not have room for homework until the kids were down for the night, so we all kept late hours. It was mostly during those late hours that I got to know Chuck.

Stepping outside for a study break, we would sometimes run into each other. We also shared many of the same classes so one of us might wander over to the other's apartment to compare notes or discuss the complexities of a paper we were writing. However, Chuck and I both are more than happy to take advantage of socializing and often burned many more hours talking than we should have.

1998 - Chuck (on right) and I probably discussing
video games rather than our assignments

With time, our families became more involved with each other. One semester, I kept his youngest kid at my house while Chuck went to his afternoon class. We each had a daughter the same age, so they were always together at one of our houses. Being poor college students, there was always the situation of borrowing each other's pots and pans, a cup of milk, a couple of eggs, etc. We had a lot of fun struggling through those college years together.

There were other families that lived in that stairwell also, but most of them were forgotten once we all went our separate ways. Chuck's family is one of the few that stayed close. When I left school to go on the mission field, Chuck became my stateside liaison. If there was something we needed, he took care of it. He even drove five hours to pick us up from the airport at midnight when we returned to the States. He then drove us six hours to our families (while we slept) and then another two hours to get himself back home.

Once back in the States, we each made regular trips to each other's houses to visit. And there were a lot of phone calls (still are today). Chuck was one of the main people who I talked to when I was going through my divorce. A few years later, the situation was reversed and I got to do the same for him.

When Red and I decided to have a small wedding in her parents' backyard, Chuck was the first person I called. I wanted him to officiate and he was happy to do it. He is getting married this year and asked me to do the same for him. I'm on the other side of the world, so it just wasn't possible. I hate that this distance will keep me from even attending his wedding, but he understood.

Chuck has always been immediately ready to jump at whatever needs to be done to help out his friends. He has proven to be a much better friend than I could ever hope to be to anyone.

Chuck is someone who I expect to stay in contact with for the rest of my life and I highly value that relationship.

Chuck, thank you for your unwavering integrity and constant willingness to be there. I am so grateful that our paths crossed 20 years ago and we did not waste them.

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This month, I am participating in the A to Z Challenge. Each day this month, people around the world are writing blog posts and working their way through the alphabet. Each person decides their own personal theme. I am writing about people who have affected my life.