Lloyd

I'm sitting here at my computer, staring at the picture I just posted to begin this blog entry and find that words escape me.  How do you use something so weak and limiting as words to commemorate a life, to describe what a person has meant to you, to make memories come alive?  

Lloyd knew how to put words together.  At the age of 95, he decided to record a few of his life's stories on paper.  In 2011, he published the book, Hard Times, Happy Memories.  When you read the book, you hear Lloyd.  Life is made up of both laughter and tears, and Lloyd's life was no exception.

I love Jesus' words to Peter in Mark 10, a promise to all those who would go forth to preach the Gospel that He brought.  "Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life."  I have appreciated this promise many times.  Though the verse doesn't say anything about grandfathers, I think the promise extends to them as well.  Lloyd was one of my adopted grandfathers, and I'm thankful that his actual grandchildren were willing to share him with me.  

When I was in the Quincy area a few years ago, we would see Lloyd often at our Gospel Meetings.  He was very hard of hearing, so his son found a way to plug a hearing device directly into our speaker. I still remember the first time Lloyd used it in a meeting.  It was like he came alive.  He could hear!  From then on, he would bring an 8 1/2 x 11 inch notebook to all the Gospel Meetings and take notes the entire time.  It was amazing!  He had heard the same story much longer than I had even been alive, and he was just as anxious to hear it then as he had been when he first heard it.  Since he could hear, it also enabled him to sing along with the hymns.  Of course, he wasn't much for carrying a tune, and he couldn't always hear quite well enough to stay right with us, but he sang with great enthusiasm.  He might not have exactly contributed to the quality of the singing, but he very definitely contributed to the spirit of the singing.  I loved to hear it.  

A couple of weeks ago, I was in the Quincy area for our Special Meeting rounds.  I very definitely wanted a chance to see Lloyd.  He wasn't able to leave his little house anymore, so we went over to have a little visit with him before supper one evening.  In some ways, it was difficult to carry on a conversation with him, due to his hearing.  However, when my co-worker mentioned something spiritual, he said, "Those are the worthwhile things."  Those were more than just words.  They were words backed up by a life.  

There are a lot of people, including myself, who are going to miss Lloyd.  He was a wonderful father, grandfather, friend, brother in Christ, example, elder, the list goes on and on.  We could say many excellent things about Lloyd, and they would all be true.  There is, however, a "final" verse that comes to my mind now.  "But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend."  (Is. 41:8)  God Himself called Abraham His friend.  And I believe with all my heart that God could call Lloyd Helmreich His friend.  And what greater testimony could a person have than that?