This morning, I was very sad to learn of the death of Chuck Uhlenkott, the father of one of my best friends of the past 26 years and a singular figure in my own life. He passed away on May 13th. The funeral is today.
In early 1997, the year I started college, I had just come out of the Legionaries of Christ and was trying to get my bearings. I got a job building and repairing computers near my hometown of Binghamton, New York. It was a good job, and I learned a lot, but I needed a change of pace.
My best friend from high school, who had been with me in my Legionary assignment, was Paul Uhlenkott. We’d taken thousands of miles of road trips together and had quite a few adventures. And that year, he invited me to another one: come on out and live with my family in Northern Idaho for the summer before we headed off to Steubenville together to start our classes for the fall semester.