Oak Cliff-O, Part 3b: Church Friends

Author’s note:  Cliff Temple people…please forgive me. ;)

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None of us had good cars.

Noneofus.

I had an olive-green Ford Pinto (actually borrowed on occasion from my dad until he went off to work in California for awhile; then I drove it all the time.).  Kristi had a gold Ford Pinto.  Owen had some kind of a land yacht…and Mark as well (I think).  Duane had a Horizon.

Did Shawn have a car?  If so, it was probably another boat.

I can’t remember if Lori had one.

Okay, wait…I think Lisa D. had some kind of a decent car because she was enterprising enough to work at Minyard’s in her spare time.

And Tom had a navy Oldsmobile Cutlass which was a very nice car…it had an eight-track tape player…we used to listen to Rick James.  Although Tom went to Cliff Temple…and the Cliff Temple people were a little more upscale (in their imaginations) than the Calvary people.

The Cliff Temple people…they’d forgotten they lived on the wrong side of the tracks.  In fact, I think some of them were proud they lived in Duncanville.

But getting back on this track…Don’s was the worst.

Don’s was this gold Gremlin hatchback.

And at some point…it got water in it.  Maybe a window was left open during a heavy rain…or something else, but it, well…okay…let me just cut to the chase:  It stunk.

I guess the water caused the interior to mildew.

But, I have to give Don credit…he tried to get rid of the smell by hanging those pine air-freshener thingies from his rear-view mirror.  The result was this strange hybrid smell…something between lemony and mildew.

I’ve never smelled anything like it since.

 
Don with our friend, Jodie

Don was a great guy, by the way.

He was a senior at Sunset when I was a freshman.  He was a cheerleader (one of four guy cheerleaders on our squad of eight).

I remember those cheerleaders my freshman year quite well; they were very good.  They could do these amazing stunts because they had all that muscle behind them.  And most of them could do back flips and other impressive gymnastic-type things.

I really loved watching them at the games.

At one point, Don started dating my cute friend, Lisa D.

In fact, I think Lisa was the reason Don started coming to Calvary…and how he and I got to know each other.

Incidentally, Don had a really wild/scary thing which led to his decision to become a Christ-follower.

So Don had this dream…and in the dream…he was standing at a cliff…and there was another cliff across a deep ravine…like Royal Gorge, I guess.  A few of his friends were with him in the dream.  When his friends went to leap across the ravine, they made it just fine…one by one.  When Don went to leap across the ravine…he didn’t.

And it concerned him because he interpreted it as a metaphor of his own spiritual state.

Well, I’m sure there are a few skeptics reading this who will think it was his subconscious playing with him...building on past information he had received from friends or family…and, actually, I’m pretty sure I would agree with you...to a point.  Personally and additionally, I think God was speaking to him…reinforcing those previous messages…because I’m not sure the information had made any kind of impression on him before the dream.

Whatever the case...the dream shook Don up so incredibly, he soon made a decision to follow Christ.

As a result, even after he and Lisa D. were no longer dating, Don continued to hang around with us at Calvary.

And, in truth, he was one of the gentlest and most generous people I knew…within his means.  He never minded giving us rides in his Gremlin with the pine tree hanging from the mirror…and quarters to play Pac-Man…and little stuffed animals for the girls before a game.

He used to do some of the cheerleading stunts with us on Sunday nights between the services…he must’ve been incredibly strong.

Unfortunately, I lost touch with him at some point…but a few years back my sister noticed his obituary in the Dallas Morning News; he died suddenly…just like Mark.    However, I found out while reading the obit comments from some of his co-workers he liked to plan and host cook outs for the employees at the car dealership where he worked.

In other words…he was still generous.

For now…I bet he’s lending Mark quarters to play Pac-Man and giving our Lori sweet little, stuffed animals to cuddle.

And I bet the barbeque tastes heavenly.

 
Grace, Laura, Don and Owen (up high)

Comments

[Laura]

Thank you, Lisa! I appreciate your comment. :)

[Lisa Preston Beach]

Beautiful stories/memories.

[Laura]

Stacey McCool has asked me to post this for her:

I couldn't agree more about Don. As many of our classmates know, I was jumped my sophomore year at Sunset by a gang of girls after school. I was a JV cheerleader at the time and knew Don but only as another cheerleader on the varsity squad. To make a long story short, Don pulled the girls off of me (literally) and carried me (again literally) down the hall, down the stairs and into the nurse's office. We were friends forever after that.
I called him my guardian angel.

During college Don would come pick me up and feed me. He knew I was short on cash. There were many times he would open my kitchen cabinet and there would only be a single can of something. I particularly remember the time when it was a single can of carrots. After that the joke was that he would call and ask if he could bring carrots. Somehow being poorer than poor didn't matter to me with Don. We talked about many things politics, religion, our individual dating challenges but especially race. He helped me overcome the temptation of stereotyping the people who shared the race of the girls who jumped me. He helped me rid myself of the fear and the hatred I felt for them. He did me a great favor just by being my friend.

After I FINALLY graduated from college, it was my turn to pay him back for all the carrots so we had a standing Wednesday night fun night at Dave and Busters. We would play shuffleboard with whoever showed up.

At one time in the 90's Don started his own business. I think it was in some kind of financial services and he went through the ups and downs of being on his own. I never saw him again after about 1991 but he would call a couple of times a year and he would start the conversation "This is your guardian angel calling. How are you?" Years later the calls just ended then years later I found out my guardian angel had gone to heaven to be with other angels.

I will never forget Don Yen and I miss him and his calls very very much.

Rest in Peace my Friend

Stacey

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Thanks for sharing this wonderful story, Stacey. I love it-- because it fully illustrates Don's exceptional character.