Today our community all got together and said goodbye to a dear friend. Brian Campbell was not only our choir director, church member, neighbor; but he was also our friend. The last couple of days, people shared their favorite "Brian" stories. When I first met Brian I thought of him as being soft spoken, just a kind of person who kept to himself. And in a way he did, he was not a boastful person, but once you start knowing Brian (and his wife JoAnn) they were such fun people who enjoyed life to the fullest. If I ever saw the perfect soul mates, it was Brian and JoAnn. They complemented each other very well! The always did things together, it was never just Brian or just JoAnn; it was always Brian and JoAnn. When they did things it just wasn't "ok", they believed in putting everything into what they did; they always gave their 110%!! And I just want to share my favorite "Brian and JoAnn" story:
It was 2006. I was over the children's Christmas program that year. And the program was split between a classroom, with a teacher telling the children about a story that took place in mexico years ago, and the story actually being acted out in "mexico". So the children was part of the classroom scene and they would sing their songs; then the youth acted out the "mexico" scenes (and I had to bribe the youth with a pizza party). Well, I only needed one adult male to play the mexican granpa. The only problem, my mexican grandpa also had to sing a song (solo) and the children joined in. So, when I asked Brian to be my grandpa and then I smiled and told him "oh, there is also a small song with a small part that you would have to sing, oh, and some of the singing you will be doing by yourself, he, he." At first Brian just kind of looked at me; he sings very well but he don't enjoy solos. So I told him "Brian if you do this I will owe you one." And he just smiled and said, "well, in that case, you have a deal. And I will be getting you back." But the way he said it was all in fun. So, here we go. We all start practicing and start learning the songs. Everything is going well. A few weeks before the production Brian asked me what he needed to wear. And I said just some overalls and maybe an old flannel shirt and a walking cane, just something a grandpa would wear. I was already tired and I really didn't care at that point what my characters really looked like just as long as they showed up that Sunday morning. Well, the morning of production when Brian and JoAnn came to the church Brian was a bonafide mexican grandpa. From the clothes, the hair, JoAnn even drew a little mustache on his face. He looked like a true mexican grandpa. The youth guys thought Brian's mustache was so cool, so JoAnn had to draw mustaches on them, too. And when we had the production, Brian came out there speaking with a mexican accent. He even sang his solo with a mexican accent. He was the bomb! Like I said, when Brian does something, he puts his all in it and JoAnn was right there with him; she had him fixed to a tee! I was just in awe! Even with it being a small children's program; it became this huge fun production. Oh, and remember, I told Brian if he did this favor for me, I will do a favor for him. Well, he made true to that, too. That next year when we had our adult cantata. I had to sing a solo, and Amy does not do solos well. I sing better when I'm blended with other voices. I'll always watch what I say to people now..ha.. But it was all fun. But I'll never forget the effort he put into his grandpa part that year; he gave it his all. And that was the type of person he was. He gave it his all.
Last fall when he got sick he still fought for all he had. Today at his funeral the preacher told us that when Brian was in the hospital he told the preacher, "this won't end in death". And actually it doesn't end in death, it stays in eternal life. Death may be the end to this worldly life, but it's not the end... The preacher also talked about the earth as being an inn, a place where people stays for a while and then leave. We stay here on earth for a little while and then we will leave for eternal life. But yet, there are so many people who are so focused on this "inn" on earth that we forget about where we go when we leave this earthly inn.
I just wanted to share a little bit about a person who meant so much to so many people. Even though many of you may not know Brian, maybe you can get a glimpse of who he was by reading this blog. Above is a picture I made of them this past Halloween. You may not can tell, but Brian was very weak in this photo. It took all he had to climb the porch stairs. But I wanted you to see his precious family. And see, even for Halloween, they give it their 110%!!
