How do you summarize the life of someone who has been a best friend? What words of comfort do you select to comfort his family? How do you describe in these brief moments a friendship that lasted over 50 years? Finally, how do you say, Good-bye ?
We met the fall of our freshman year at Davidson long before the term ” Mission Statement ” became part of business jargon. Davidson’s precursor Mission Statement was “Davidson College – A small Christian college in the heart of the two Carolinas – a good place for a boy and a safe place for an investment”.
Sounds sort of hokey today, doesn’t it ?
However, like most young men at that age we reveled in freedom from parental control and exercised our new found freedom robustly! To use the Biblical term, we were in “the far country”. As a comfort to Boo and the boys I simply will say “What happened at Davidson stays at Davidson”. I tell you this for many of you did not know Bill Manning before he became a husband and father — before he wore his banker suit and Allen Edmonds tassel loafers
College days aside we went our separate ways -I to dental school – Bill to the army and a tour in Japan . Three years later we renewed our friendship when he returned home and I got him a blind date that instantly became and remained the love of his life. Greene (then known as Mary Jane) and I enjoyed their courtship in places like Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach, and Morehead until they ultimately Married in Martinsville.
After a short time with the bank in Morehead where Ned was born they came to Kinston where Hooker and Scott were born and they made lifelong friends. Many of whom are gathered here today —-while others have gone on.
Through the years our friendship flourished with summer vacations at Morehead – putt-putt golf, evenings at the Coral Bay Club, Days sunning on the beach reliving those years at Davidson and our escapades,
Our children’s lives became entwined, When Ned found Penny, my daughter Whitney now being the oldest and the only who could drive carted the other three boys around in our van,
A friend is someone you can count on, hence a final story – my Mother and the hurricane. During one hurricane my Mother was at my condo awaiting three of her bridge playing friends planning to spend a week at the beach. Before the friends got there a hurricane forced my Mother to evacuate to Kinston and the Manning’s house. Expecting to return in a day or so, she only packed an overnight bag leaving most of her clothes at the beach.
This hurricane moved inland and “camped” on Kinston for a week. Now think about the circumstances – an unexpected 80 year old house guest with one change of clothes – a raging hurricane that has you cooped in a house for a week. Yet Mother was effusive in her comments and said how gracious they both were to her,
at the end of that week, out of consideration for her, both told her not to worry about her clothes at the beach but to head on home. They drove down to the beach, packed up and mailed everything to her. Boo, I hope she reimbursed you.
Taking care of Mother was a team effort and I think we would all agree that Boo and Bill were a team. During these last three years Boo, you really stepped up and did a yeoman’s job of caring for our friend bill
in closing I would like to read a letter I wrote Bill last fall which speaks to the essence of our friendship.
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Letter from 2010
Letter from 2011
