Rest in Peace Ron

Yesterday morning I received a text letting me know that Ron had died the night before in his vehicle. Maybe a heart attack. Maybe he froze to death. Ron was one of our friends that we met at the truck stop. But not just any friend at the truck stop. Ron was the first person who we met and did ministry with — laundry and a meal.

I wasn’t there that night — I was sick. One of our families went over with a neighbor from the church. It was the first time over to the truck stop. They had no idea what would happen. We had talked about the possibility that they wouldn’t meet anyone. But they met Ron.

And Ron became a faithful participant. Ron was an interesting character. He always had stories to share and as we got to know him better, he’d be more comfortable with us and share different stories about his life.

Ron told us that he was going to Tennessee in order to marry a woman and that he would be leaving in a couple of days to go there. He had supposedly been talking with this woman and they were in love.

Well, we saw Ron again in a month. No Tennessee. No wife. We expressed sadness for Ron. And we realized that this was a scam, trying to talk with Ron about the situation. It cost him $750 — money he sent to this “woman.”

Then the cycle started again. Same result. We tried again.

Then the cycle started again. Same result. This time we stopped trying to talk Ron out of it. We realized that Ron didn’t care that it was a scam and that it cost him money that…