I met Kirk the summer after our junior year of high school. We had been selected to the Texas Baptist All State Youth Choir. That year the choir met at Harden Simmons University. Who knew that a pick up game of basketball one afternoon during our free time would lead to a friendship that lasted over 40 years.

Our high school friendship grew and we talked of being roommates someday in college. That dream came true when Kirk transferred to Baylor his sophomore year. We spent the next three years rooming together. He called us bunk mates and then this was shortened to “Bunkie”, and that was the nickname that stuck for each of us from then on. We balanced each other well during those college years. I helped him stay on task with some of the academic challenges of school, and he helped remind me that there was more college life than just the study hall. We had so much fun and made so many great memories, and still both graduated on time so I guess it was a win/win situation.

In 1987, he served as my best man in my wedding. After he and Sheryl got married and we started our families, we would look forward to Baylor homecomings and the occasional hunting trips. We would load the boys up in the truck and sing Barry Manilow and Lionel Richie tunes at the top of our lungs all the way to the deer camp.

Our daughters helped us reconnect through their club volleyball tournaments. I would get so excited when I found out the girls would be playing at the same tournament. It gave Kirk and me a chance to slow down from our busy schedules and catch up with each other.

A special blessing for me was when the Baylor University and Thompson – Rollins connection came full circle and our daughters were able to room together for a couple of years.

I was so happy for and proud of Kirk in 2009 when he and Sheryl opened their first Chick-fil-A restaurant. I can remember him telling me about each step of the interview process and how hopeful he was. I knew he had found his true calling and ministry.

I do hope Sheryl will forgive me for any influence I may have had in getting Kirk into the “cattle business”. I think he saw it as a way to get away from some of the pressures of his “real” job, and get back to nature. I was proud to have sold him his first trailer load of heifers and always loved getting pictures from him after calving time.

Kirk’s and my friendship was founded on our faith in God and our love for His music. That faith was the glue that kept our friendship strong over these past 40 years. Whether we spoke to each other every day or didn’t talk for months, we were always able to pick up right where we left off without missing a beat.

And it is that same faith that allows us to have hope, even in times of painful loss and temporary separation, and to somehow find comfort in the words of that great hymn

“When peace like a River, attendeth my way.

When sorrows like sea billows roll.

Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul”.

You got there first, my friend.

—Lowell