As I contact various alumni in my travels as the long-term-care insurance consultant for the USU alumni association I meet all types of folks, most of them are nice enough (because they're AGGIES!) but there are a few who really stand out. A few whose spirits just shine a bit brighter than the rest. This was most definitely Tom, and I'm not just saying that because he's remotely related to me. Tom and my mom (Georgia White Christopher) are cousins - and Tom has always been a great friend to me.
One of my fondest of life's memories is the time I was at Tom's home in Logan after Carol had died but before he had married Katie. It was also not to long after my dad (Douglas Christopher) had died. We spent a great deal of time together that day talking about the "old days" when Tom, Carol, Doug & Georgia used to "hang out". Tom showed me a bunch of old pictures of the four of them and we had a great time reminiscing. Then Tom got out his Martin guitar and allowed me to play it while we sang a few Kingston Trio songs. I didn't even know that I knew any Kingston Trio songs, but they just came out - I guess hearing my dad (Doug Christopher) play those songs so often when I was a kid just burned them into my brain. I got out my CD of Tom and his group playing and reminisced a bit more this morning.
He will most definitely be missed by all those who knew him, but if you knew him very well then you know that he's in a better place now, that he and Carol are reunited, and that he's probably with my dad right now strumming and singing Tom Dooley or MTA, Greenback Dollar or A Worried Man. At least I'd like to think there's time for guitar playin' in Heaven.
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