The Good Doctor

Yesterday we went to a funeral. Kevin was a friend of mine and member of my ward. He was a young doctor who left behind a beautiful wife and four really great kids. He was 43. He left us much too soon.

Friday night, we went to set up chairs in the Stake Center for the funeral. I knew that there would be a lot of people there to help. There were. But I went anyway and I'm glad that I did. When you have friends that go through tragedy, you always want to say, "Please let me know what I can do to help." Most of the time, there is not much you can do. But I knew that Kevin and his family needed help setting up chairs. And that was something that I could do. I went to show Kevin how much I loved him, how much I appreciated his friendship, and how much I will miss him.

This is what the Stake Center looked like from the podium after we were done setting up chairs.

We put out every single chair in the entire building and then brought in dozens of more chairs from the other building in the stake (all the blue chairs). Every single one of these chairs was filled for Kevin's service. It was neat to see such an outpouring of love and support for Kevin and his family.

I told a friend of mine about Kevin and the funeral and my friend said, "Sounds like he was a really good guy." I thought about that for a second and then I realized that Kevin was not just a "good guy"--he was the "best" type of guy. Our world needs a lot more Kevins, especially these days.

In his remarks during the service, President Reese told how everyone thought that they were Kevin's best friend. It was true. Kevin was loved by everybody, but not because he sought out popularity. He was beloved because people sensed Kevin's innate goodness and kind and gentle nature and were drawn to that.

I'll share a personal experience to show what type of person Kevin was. Kevin was an E.R. doctor. One night while playing in an office basketball game, I had got hit in the head during the game and had a huge gash in my scalp. There was blood everywhere and I probably looked a little scary. It was about 10 p.m. at night and the last thing I wanted to go and do was spend a few hours cooling my heels in the emergency room at the hospital. I decided to swing by Kevin's house unannounced to see if he thought I really needed stitches or if I could wait until the morning.

Kevin invited me in and took a look. He had his daughter come in to play trauma nurse and he literally superglued my scalp back together right there in his kitchen. (Apparently they use superglue in the E.R. quite often.) It healed great. He seemed embarrassed when I tried to thank him for his help.

I'm sure Kevin probably wouldn't even remember that particular incident because he did so many kindnesses like that for so many people. But I will never forget.

The funeral service itself was sad because we will miss Kevin. But it was comforting as well, to be reminded of our Heavenly Father's plan and to know that one day we will renew our acquaintances and friendship with Kevin in the next life. It made me grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ that makes that possible.

Kevin, thanks for showing me what it means to be self-less and to love your neighbor. You inspired me to be a better man. We love you and you will be missed.

(if you are interested to know more about Kevin and how inspirational he was, you can go to his blog here.)