Reconnecting with my old friend, Mr. C

        I have been so blessed in my life to make friends with some of the most amazing people and one of them is Ralph Campbell, a Tennessee born college administrator who I met as a student at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
         I don’t remember how I met Ralph, or Mr. C, as he was known by, but he had quite an impact on my life. Mr. C was an assistant registrar at MU and I often stopped to visit with him during the school day in the register’s office located in Jesse Hall, the main administration building on campus. His desk was an extra-large table, similar to a library table.
        One day, I recall, stopping at his office to visit.
        “I seem to be scoring just below average on my algebra tests,” I told him.
        Mr. C jointed down the number 26 on a sticky note and showed it to me.
       “Do you know what this means,” he asked.
       “No,” I replied.
     “This is the average ACT score of students at the University of Missouri-Columbia,” he said. “If you are scoring below average, then you are still in some pretty tall cotton.”
       Algebra was a struggle for me in college. After dropping the course twice, once at MU and another time at Columbia College, where I took a summer class, I went on to take a non-credit entry level algebra course at MU.
      After failing the first test, I was talking with some other students when the head of the math department overheard me and suggested that I drop the course, saying that I would fail.
       I told her that I was going to keep going and if I failed, I would fail trying. 
     I spent hours being tutored by a friend from church and also attending tutoring sessions twice a week offered by the math department. I earned an A on the next test.
       I went on to pass the non-credit course and then passed the regular algebra course with a C grade.
      I wouldn’t have accomplished it without the hand of God guiding me to the right people like Mr. C and a few miracles along the way.
     Another time, I remember needing a new pair of tennis shoes. When Mr. C learned about it, he told his church and they took up an offering and gave me $100 for a new pair of shoes. I remember he called me and woke me up one morning to tell me about the new shoes. I had been up half the night studying and was sleeping in a bit. I met him later that day on campus and he gave me the check.
      At the end of the 1995 school year, Mr. C took an administrative job with the University of Central Florida in St. Petersburg. That next spring, a friend of mine who I met while living in Ashland, Mo., a small town south of Columbia where I lived while in college, paid to fly us to Tampa to spend a few days with Mr. C in the Sunshine state.
    While there, we toured a pirate ship used in the “Mutiny on the Bounty” movie, attended a St. Louis Cardinals spring game, I believe with the KC Royals. We also visited an aquarium in Tampa and ate oysters on the half shell at a Florida restaurant named Shells. The place had peanut shells all over the floor.
      That was the last time I saw Mr. C.
    As the years passed, I lost touch. I had tried to find him a couple times, but with him not being on Facebook, I ran out of options.
       The house phone rang late last week and it was Mr. C looking for me.
       “It this the J.O. Parker who went to the University of Missouri?” he asked. “This is Ralph Campbell.”
       He rattled off his phone number and asked me to give him a call.
      Debbie texted me and asked if I knew a Campbell from the University of Missouri-Columbia. I wrote back to say that I knew a Ralph Campbell who worked in the registrar’s office when I was a student there.
       I was surprised to receive his call.
      When I got home, I sat down in the comfy chair and called him. I asked him how he found me and he said his son looked me up on the internet and he googled my telephone number.
      We spent about 30 minutes catching up. He asked about the camper on my old Chevrolet S-10 that I once owned.
       “I sold that truck in 2010,” I told him.
      He used to tease me about buying a camper for the truck when I was a student at Missouri. Actually, my mom bought it for me. It was a nice addition to my truck.
      Mr. C. spent a number of years in college administration at FCU and a Bible college before retiring a few years ago and moving to Lebanon, Tenn., just outside of Nashville. He said Lebanon is about 10 miles from where he was born and raised. And at age 81, he still works part-time at a local car auction where he drives cars during the auctions.
       “I drive cars all day,” he said.
       He said it was one of the top four auto auctions in the country.
     I told him about where life had taken me in the last 30 years in the newspaper business and about meeting my wife, Debbie, at the Iowa State Fair, our books and the work we do to this day.
       He wanted a copy of my newspaper and I told him I would send it soon. I think I will toss in our books on the Iowa State Fair and the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion.
       It was so good to reconnect and share our life’s journeys.
       I am so thankful for all the people in my life and the many blessings that have come my way. Thanks Mr. C for being a part of all of that.
        Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.