posted
When I was 4 my family moved to Hong Kong. It was a really hard adjustment for everyone, especially my mother. We quickly formed ties with the ex pat community and I became best friends with a boy named Joshua deWaal. His parents became close friends to mine and when we moved away 4 years later they kept tabs on us, we kept tabs on them.
We moved back to Hong Kong 4 years later but the deWaals had moved to Beijing while we were gone. About 4 years after that I found out the deWaals were moving back to Hong Kong and I was very excited. They came back a year later and I saw Josh again. It had been almost 10 years since we had seen each other or even spoken. He was more or less the same boy I had known, and I was the same boy he knew. Does it seem strange then that we didnt get along? One day about 6 months later it was a sunday afternoon and we were done with church. The next day was a holiday and for whatever reason I asked Josh if he wanted to come over to my house to spend the night. It just sort of came out, and he said he would rather I came over and spent the night as his house. I agreed, and from that evening on we were best friends again. His father Clark (but I always called him Brother deWaal) was our scout master, and he was a wonderful man. He taught me to cut with a knife away from myself not towards, and that we should find joy in the wonders of nature.
Our favorite movie that Josh, his dad and I would watch was The Great Escape. And we would talk throughout the entire movie, discussing alternate strategies the prisoners could have used. How to deal with the guards, ANYTHING. We loved it! Brother deWaal knew everything about cars, James Bond movies, and China.
When I was 19 and about to leave for Taiwan on a religious mission, Josh's father, my father, Josh's older brother and I all went to Gui Lin in Western China. It was some of the most fun I have ever had. My father, brother deWaal and I were all planning the next trip to China since then.
Brother deWaal wrote me while I was a missionary and encouraged me to do my best, and to love the people for who they were. He was excited that I was serving as a missionary in the land where he himself had served at the age of 19. I even served in the same city that he had served in for 6 months.
When I started college Josh and I roomed together and his dad would go with us camping every 2-3 months.
Josh's parents had me over for dinner all the time, I called Josh's mother "Mommy" because she was a 2nd mother to me for years.
His parents came to my wedding only 1 month ago, and besides my actual family, I was excited to see them more than anybody else.
2 nights ago while Brother deWaal was on a business trip to Taiwan, he ate breakfast and went back to his room. The cleaning women found his body in his bed. He had had a heart attack, the 3rd one of his entire life. He died in a land that he loved.
I only just found our he died, and its hard for me because I had always though Brother deWaal would be there as one of those constants in life.
I'm leaving work early today to be with my best friend, because I know he would do the same if my father had died. The last time anybody I knew died was my grandfather and I did not know him very well as I was 9 and only saw him in the summers on occasion, so you might say this death is the first real death I have ever experienced.
I still have not fully gauged this lose, but I will say that I am sorry for all of you. For none of you had a chance to meet this wonderful man. It is an experience I am sure alot of you wouldnt have wanted to miss.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
My condolences to you and to Brother deWaal's family. He truly does sound like a unique individual and one that will be deeply missed.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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What a wonderful story about a wonderful person, thank you for sharing with us. I'm so sorry for your and your best friend's loss. That is so sad.
Posts: 3636 | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
What a great man! I am so sorry for your loss. I hope you and Josh will find comfort in your sorrow.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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