I’ll let you imagine which obituary EVERYONE wanted.

He was a one-of-a-kind person. Lots of laughs and lots of tears.

In Galceston, I officiated at the funeral of a 30 year veteran Deputy Sheriff of the Galveston County Police Department. He went by “Bubba” and everyone called him that.

He was the son in law of one our members and he lived up on the mainland, so I’d never met him. So I visited with the family to find out more about him, and boy did they tell me! But there was a lot of laughter when they told the stories….

Like the time he was off duty and driving his cop car. Bubba liked his beer and this particular night, Bubba managed to lose control of his cop car doing 90 mph on I-45, swerve into the median and end up sliding ON TOP of the guardrail for 75 yards. He got out of the car and then wondered how the hell his car got up on the railing.

The prisoners at Galveston County Jail loved Bubba. His co-workers in the sheriff’s department loved Bubba. Even his ex-wife loved Bubba, and the picture emerged of a guy who was an asshole, but a lovable asshole. All the stories told me were told by people with smiles on their faces.

So that’s the image I went with when I preached his funeral.

After the service, as people walked by me on their way out of the church, several stopped, laughed, and said “That was Bubba!”

Most of us have a Bubba or two in our circles of family and friends. I thought of Bubba when I read that obituary.