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The Last Words We Say To Each Other
When he was born in Jasper, Alabama, in December of 1928, his parents named him George. When he grew up, he went to the State College in Florence (now the University of North Alabama) where he quarterbacked the football team. After he graduated, he spent three years in the Air Force before returning to Alabama to teach high school history and coach baseball and basketball.
After one year he and his wife moved to New York, where he landed acting roles in a couple of Broadway plays. Those led to bit parts in The Rifleman, The Real McCoy, The Twilight Zone, and Daniel Boone.
He even shot Marshall Matt Dillon.
Then he auditioned to play the role of Gomer Pyle on The Andy Griffith Show, but lost out to Jim Nabors. And he really wanted that part. When he saw the first episode on television featuring Nabors as Gomer, he put his foot through the television screen. Later, when Gomer left Mayberry to join the Marines, his cousin came to town to run the gas station.
And that's when George Lindsey got his big break--as Goober Pyle.
He played that role for many years, first in Mayberry and eventually on Hee-Haw. Even today, when we see a photograph of him, we think "That's Goober." But that wasn't all he did. For example, through celebrity golf tournaments, he raised nearly $2 million for the Alabama Special Olympics.
He and Andy Griffith stayed in close touch with one another through the years. And this brings us to our point. When George Lindsey died on May 6, 2012, at the age of 83, his long-time friend Andy Griffith issued a statement, in which he declared that he had great respect for George. He said that they often spoke by telephone. Griffith said, "We would talk about our health, how much we missed our friends who passed before us and usually about something funny."
But now pay attention to this: Griffith went on to say, "I am happy to say that as we found ourselves in our eighties, we were not afraid to say, 'I love you.' That was the last thing George and I had to say to each other: 'I love you.'"
And now Andy Griffith is gone, too.
I read Griffith's statement and realized that there are plenty of people around me that need to hear those words. And since we never know when we'll speak for the last time to one another, shouldn't our parting words be those of love and acceptance? Whether you actually say "I love you," or not, make sure that those who know you would remember something loving and kind--and Christ-like--about you. And remember the words of 1 Peter 4:8, "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
--Rocky Henriques, www.timothyreport.com
