Submission by Dr. Glenn Mollette
James E. Webb was my first cousin, neighbor, and friend. James was about ten years older than me. At the age of 23, he became my junior high school teacher. I had him for classes in the seventh and eighth grades.
Growing up, he taught me chords on the guitar and mandolin. Once, he even put up a basketball goal for me to practice on behind my grandparents’ chicken coop. He also coached our seventh and eighth grade basketball teams. Through my young teenage years, James was a teacher, a coach, a mentor, a neighbor, a dear first cousin, and so much more. He made an electric guitar for me. That was the first of many, many hand-crafted instruments he would make for others, mostly banjos and mandolins.
When I was in the eighth grade, James gave me an A+ on a poem I wrote. That was the only “plus” I ever received from him in school. He once gave me a C because I failed to memorize all of the 23rd Psalm. However, the A+ for the poem encouraged me to keep writing, and for better or worse, I have been writing my entire life.
Mr. Webb, as he was affectionately known by hundreds of endearing students, recently died. His funeral was on February 14. Loved ones and admiring friends paid their respects through various songs and testimonies. Sadly, I wasn’t able to attend.
Years ago, I wrote a book titled Grandpa’s Store, Reflections of My Childhood. The book has been around for a few years and had even been out of print for a while. Recently, it was restored to print. One week after Mr. Webb’s funeral, on February 21, I was reading over the information about Grandpa’s Store on Amazon.com, and to my astonishment, there was a very nice review left by Mr. Webb about my book. He was mentioned several times in the book because he was raised by my Grandpa and Mama Hinkle. He was a central character in Grandpa’s Store. He told me once that it was a good book. I was relieved to hear him say so. Yet somehow, I missed his written review on Amazon.com.
The review Mr. Webb wrote was written several years ago. It was an A+, five-star review with lots of information, insight, and affirmation. I put my laptop down and wiped tears from my eyes. Mr. Webb was giving me a final parting grade from the grave. Of course, he always got the last word. Because he was ten years older, a coach, and a schoolteacher, all I could do was nod my head and agree with whatever he said.
It was surreal that I didn’t read the review until one week after his funeral. I guess God knew that was when I needed to read it. What he wrote came at just the right time.
I hope that we can all think about the words we might say and the actions we might take that could be meaningful to those we leave behind. Something we write, say, or do today might be just what they need to hear from us—even from the grave.
Feature photo: Hp.Baumeler, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
