Tim Parris funeral service
I attended the funeral service at White's Memorial Baptist Church this afternoon at 3:00pm. I was immediately surprised at the number of cars present (and I was 30 minutes early). There must have been 100 cars at least there. There was not enough room in the church, so they had another 60-80 chairs setup in another meeting area with a live audio/video feed of the service.
The service was run by the minister, Jeff Joyce (also a fraternity brother and we were undergrads for awhile together) who has been best friends with Tim since they were in grade school. He's experienced with handling funerals I'm sure, but this was very different for him since this was Tim--his best friend. He held it together, told some funny stories he had with Tim, but brought a great deal of comfort to everyone in light of the tragedy.
Tim touched many, many lives. He was always a positive person with a smile on his face. He did a great deal of work for the church internally and externally reaching all to all kinds of youth groups including many troubled teens. There were countless stories from all kinds of people, young and old. And Tim was only 41 years old.
I still don't know the details of the car accident itself. It was Monday morning and it sounds like it was a single car accident. I'm going to check with some more friends later on. I also saw Matt Holt and Brandon Burdette (fraternity brothers) and we caught up a little bit with each other. I'm glad it was not just me there from the fraternity. There were more that were going to come, but there were just too many conflicts and very short notice that prevented them from coming.
His volunteer efforts to work with youth resonates deeply with me and it's something I want to work more on. I already have an outlet for it and that's with Civil Air Patrol in Cadet Programs where I have years of experience. I ENJOY doing that, but I get turned off by the politics too easily and I end up avoiding it when I just need to learn to work with it. Why am I allowing someone else's stupidity prevent me from teaching new leaders?
I am very glad I went. I cried like a baby a few times, but then so did many others at some of the responses that just tugged at our emotions. This helped me get it out of my system and focus my energy where it needs to go--moving forward. I have some new standards to live up to.
I do regret not meeting Tim every know and then since he was just an hour down the road. I am glad I have a road trip planned in March to meet more people in person. I want to keep up more with people I had a close bond with and keep those bonds strong.
In memory of Timothy Harold Parris,
Y.I.T.B.O.S.
The service was run by the minister, Jeff Joyce (also a fraternity brother and we were undergrads for awhile together) who has been best friends with Tim since they were in grade school. He's experienced with handling funerals I'm sure, but this was very different for him since this was Tim--his best friend. He held it together, told some funny stories he had with Tim, but brought a great deal of comfort to everyone in light of the tragedy.
Tim touched many, many lives. He was always a positive person with a smile on his face. He did a great deal of work for the church internally and externally reaching all to all kinds of youth groups including many troubled teens. There were countless stories from all kinds of people, young and old. And Tim was only 41 years old.
I still don't know the details of the car accident itself. It was Monday morning and it sounds like it was a single car accident. I'm going to check with some more friends later on. I also saw Matt Holt and Brandon Burdette (fraternity brothers) and we caught up a little bit with each other. I'm glad it was not just me there from the fraternity. There were more that were going to come, but there were just too many conflicts and very short notice that prevented them from coming.
His volunteer efforts to work with youth resonates deeply with me and it's something I want to work more on. I already have an outlet for it and that's with Civil Air Patrol in Cadet Programs where I have years of experience. I ENJOY doing that, but I get turned off by the politics too easily and I end up avoiding it when I just need to learn to work with it. Why am I allowing someone else's stupidity prevent me from teaching new leaders?
I am very glad I went. I cried like a baby a few times, but then so did many others at some of the responses that just tugged at our emotions. This helped me get it out of my system and focus my energy where it needs to go--moving forward. I have some new standards to live up to.
I do regret not meeting Tim every know and then since he was just an hour down the road. I am glad I have a road trip planned in March to meet more people in person. I want to keep up more with people I had a close bond with and keep those bonds strong.
In memory of Timothy Harold Parris,
Y.I.T.B.O.S.