NO BETTER DAY TO DIE

LINK to online version

November is the month Catholics especially remember and pray for the dead. Why we pray for the dead is a topic for another column. The subject of this column is a short story about a friend who died three years ago on November 1, our Feast of All Saints or “All Saints Day.”

I first met Tim Wood sometime in the early 90’s at the old Kings Restaurant when it was still in what was known as “Gibson’s.” Someone had brought Tim to a business presentation I was doing at a nearby hotel and a few of us had gone for coffee afterwards.

I was in my suit and tie and sat across the table from Tim, who, at the time was probably in his mid 40's, sported a pony tail and sandals, and smelled of marijuana.

We became the weirdest of friends. I never met anyone who despised Catholics as much as Tim. Tim would get crazy angry whenever the word Catholic was even mentioned. He even kept Jack Chick tracts (anti-Catholic pamphlets) in his bathroom for reading material.

Tim really believed that the pope was the anti-Christ and the Catholic Church was the "whore of Babylon," and he would assail me with near-violent harangues about Catholics going to hell at every opportunity.

But for some reason we became really good friends as well as business partners. Our business together took us on some of the craziest adventures of my life.

In the 1990's we worked on expanding our business in the Philippines. The "lahar" was still thick and deep back then and it was a real struggle to drive our little rented car from Manila to Angeles City.

The “lahar” was the gigantic lava and mud flow from the volcanic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991. The lahar had buried whole villages, and as we drove across that burning gray dirt and sand I remember seeing church steeples and rooftops peaking through the surface. Sometimes we'd have to get out and push the car through the streams and mud when it rained.

Eventually our business adventures came to an end and Tim moved to Hawaii. Many years later - I think it was 2014 -  Tim called me one night to let me know he would be passing through the Guam airport around 4am and asked me to meet him.

We met and I found out why he wanted to meet. He wanted to tell me he had become a Catholic and told me that he loved to pray the rosary and go to Mass.

I won't say that I was in shock because I wasn't. Tim, despite his drug-fueled hippie past and hatred of Catholics, was a deeply genuine person who loved Jesus and wanted to always know him more.

 About a year later Tim called to let me know he had cancer. Over the next few years we continued to chat every once in a while. He was always deeply grateful for my companionship just as he was all those years ago when we pushed our little Toyota through the burning lahar.

About a week before he died, Tim called. It was about 3 am and I happened to be awake. I couldn’t sleep. I got up and prayed for a while and still couldn't sleep. And then I got his call. He had called me by accident and apologized for waking me up (as he had thought). We spoke for about two hours. He told me he was dying. I tried my best to "stay by his side" over the phone.

Tim's cancer was in his nasal passages which affected his speech. He had to hold his nose while he spoke so I could understand him. He apologized to me for being so hard to understand. I don’t remember what I told him. What do you tell a man who tells you he’s dying?

A few days later I learned of Tim’s death from a post by his daughter on Facebook. I looked through the photos of Tim that his daughter had posted and recalled our strange friendship, even stranger adventures, and the story of his conversion that he shared with me at 4:am in the Guam airport.

Then I noticed the date - November 1, All Saints Day, and I remember thinking: “No better day to die, Tim. No better day to die.”

I turned off the computer and said a prayer that where he went there was no lahar.

Tim Rohr has resided in Guam since 1987. He has raised a family of 11 children, owned several businesses, and is active in local issues via his blog, JungleWatch.info, letters to local publications, and occasional public appearances. He may be contacted at timrohr.guam@gmail.com