The Front Porch
It is hard to leave a place where you have lived almost four decades. Mary Lou and I had friendships that stood the test of time, belonged to a church we loved, and treasured the house we had lived in for 37 years.
Despite some of the uncertainty and butterflies in our stomach, we held steadfast to our long-time dream of returning to the college town where we fell in love. We had owned a townhouse there for several years but wanted to see what it was like to live in this place for more than gameday weekends.
After selling our company in December of 2018, we moved to Auburn in August of the following year. We found a home in a neighborhood very near to the heart of Auburn. It had everything we wanted; enough bedrooms for all our children and grandchildren to visit, a room big enough for my grand piano, plenty of trees that were not pine, and a walking neighborhood.
We quickly met our new next door neighbors who had found their own way to the “loveliest village on the plain” some 20 years earlier. Before long, they found their way to our front porch. Gary and Marcia Webb visited regularly during the increasingly shorter days of Fall. Whenever the day was warm enough we all sat on the porch, watching the neighbors walking by, listening to the birds, and seeing the sun set in the west clearly visible from the front porch.
Spring brought us Covid and fear gripped the community. The university shut completely down and the ability to make friends in our new home became more difficult … or so we thought.
In the meantime, we continued to meet regularly with Gary and Marcia on the porch, our chairs moved six feet apart as recommended at the time by the health organizations. We started having an occasional gathering around the backyard firepit. Slowly other neighbors joined us as we sat equidistant apart.
In the slowness of that time, we became friends. Fast friends that opened up to each other about our lives, our fears, and our dreams. We shared stories of our children and grandchildren, our past time at Auburn fifty years earlier.
Along the way, we exposed each other to new interests. Gary and Marcia joined us at gymnastics meets, a new experience for them. I joined Gary’s fraternity lunch group and made new friends. Gary and Marcia joined our tailgate group and they made new friends, as well.
Sometimes, it was just the two guys. I often drove us both to Pannie George’s, where we would each have two short thighs of fried chicken. We checked out every meat and three restaurant within 30 miles. No matter what, he would never eat peas, ever.
A little over three years ago, Gary was diagnosed with cancer. He shared his prognosis with us the day he found out. He faced his future with faith, courage, optimism and when necessary, realism. His journey was made possible by the rock that never left his side, Marcia.
Together they fought cancer and lived each moment of life to the fullest. Together they became an inspiration to all that saw their journey.
Gary Webb passed away early this morning. His children and grandchildren were there, as was Marcia, his wife of 51 years. He departed this life on his own terms, surrounded by a loving family, leaving behind a host of good friends.
I was one of those friends, forever grateful for that bond we shared with each other even if just for a relatively brief time. I will think of him often, especially as I continue to watch the sun set in the west from my front porch.
o0o
Dan Ponder can be reached at [email protected]