Dick Russell took me to lunch several years ago. He and I worked for the same organization, and his office was starting to do seminars, something I had been doing for a year or two. We had developed systems and marketing approaches that he thought would be helpful to his work.

Over lunch he tooks notes during our conversation and asked a lot of questions. He was interested in what I had to say and showed me respect, even though I was 15 years his junior. He was humble and teachable. He was the type of person that I want to be.

One a November Sunday a couple years later I was talking with him after church and he said doctors were concerned about a lump he had on his neck. He was concerned, too. I was hoping it was just a benign cyst or clogged pore. It ended up being cancer.

The following summer Dick was on his deathbed. Some guys from church took turns sleeping on a cot next to his bed so his wife could get some rest in the other room. I gladly took a turn this one night, which ended up being his last night on earth. He died peacefully near midnight that next evening.

I miss seeing him and talking with him. He was a man to be respected and loved. You may have never heard of him, but his life was of great value because of his impact here on earth and eternity. He was a good man. If I could leave this earth being remembered as a good man, I would be very satisfied.