Column: Thanks for Listening

To: My friend Andy

My friend Andy lost his wife, LoAnn, last week. I never met LoAnn, but I wished that I had. I wish that I got to meet the person I saw in pictures and heard people talking about.

Our little patch of earth needs people who “would meet someone new and not only welcome him or her to church, but make him or her feel welcomed.”

There is a big difference in being welcomed and being made to feel welcomed. That difference is the extra mile that you go to really find out about a person. LoAnn was that person.

I heard at the funeral that if LoAnn loved you, you were “loved by an expert.” That is one of the nicest things I have ever heard spoken about another person. Good for you, Andy, I thought. You deserve that kind of love.

I hope my friend Andy knows that he has friends to listen to the stories and look at the “pictures on the refrigerator” of LoAnn and the family that is very special to so many. There is a song that kept going through my mind at the funeral. It is perfect for Andy. If you know Andy, you may agree.

Andy, my friend, keep on dancing!

“I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack:

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder

You get your fill to eat

But always keep that hunger

May you never take one single breath for granted

God forbid love ever leave you empty handed

I hope you still feel small

When you stand by the ocean

Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens

Promise me you’ll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance

I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance

Never settle for the path of least resistance

Living might mean taking chances

But they’re worth taking

Lovin’ might be a mistake

But it’s worth making

Don’t let some hell bent heart

Leave you bitter

When you come close to selling out

Reconsider

Give the heavens above

More than just a passing glance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance

(Time is a real and constant motion always)

I hope you dance

(Rolling us along)

I hope you dance

(Tell me who)

I hope you dance

(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)

(Where those years have gone)

I hope you still feel small

When you stand by the ocean

Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens

Promise me you’ll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

Dance

I hope you dance

I hope you dance

(Time is a real and constant motion always)

I hope you dance

(Rolling us along)

I hope you dance

(Tell me who)

(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)

I hope you dance

(Where those years have gone)

(Tell me who)

I hope you dance

(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)

(Where those years have gone)

Tribune Publisher Scott Schmeltzer’s column appears every Thursday.