I’ll Miss You My Man

You can replace the girl with a 1,000 different kids. Vernon put many smiles on many kid's faces.

This morning, I could not believe the news.  My main man, Vernon Temple passed away.  Just like that, another friend is gone.  The only known flaw of Vernon Temple was that he was a diehard Tennessee Volunteer fan. I often reminded him of that flaw every time that I saw him.

He and I shared the love of basketball and some of my last basketball games of my career were either played with or against him.  He loved to mess with me on the basketball court and often times he would give me a friendly shove just to remind me that he was around.  He could heckle with the best of them and I often told him that his mouth was as wide and as loud as Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.  In 2005, during a basketball game, I blew out my Achilles Tendon while playing on Vernon’s basketball team.  He often checked in with me during my rehab and reminded me often that it was the nastiest thing that he’d ever seen on the basketball court.

Obviously, there have been a lot of rumors and news stories that started circulating about Vernon on Friday. I must say that a lot of the rumors are unfounded, unfair, and are just untrue.  On Saturday morning, I opened up my Walton Tribune, and I was ecstatic when I learned that Vernon had been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing.  I thought that was the end of it, and he could move on. 

The days ahead are going to be real hard for Vernon’s wife and kids.  His daughter, Caci is a senior at Walnut Grove High School with my daughter Brandi.  I believe in the coming days, his family is going to see the impact that Vernon had on the many lives that he touched while employed at the Walton County Recreation Department in Loganville.  My son was visibly upset when he was told the news.  I know many others were shocked and saddened by the news as well.

When tragedy strikes, I always cling to God’s promise that there is a reason and a purpose for it all.  Even in this crazy mixed-up world, there is a reason for every tragedy.  At the moment, I don’t know what purpose the loss of Vernon Temple will serve.  I always question God and I know that I shouldn’t.  I’m not perfect, you’re not perfect, and Vernon Temple was not perfect either.  For some odd reason, I just heard Vernon’s big bellowing laugh….Vernon, I’m gonna miss you, bro!