Today is a very sad day. I just learned that my good friend, Clay Penrod, passed away unexpectedly last night. He was an amazing person and was always an example to those around him. I will miss him, but my heart just aches for his wife and kids that he left behind. I am so grateful that they have the gospel in their lives and I just pray that it brings them comfort during this horrible time.
My fondest memory of Clay makes me smile. During the summer before we began our Junior year in high school, Clay and his best buddies Rhett and Josh, decided to see how many girls they could take on a date during a week. It was too funny. They managed 2 or 3 dates a day! I was fortunate that 3 days after I turned 16, Clay needed another "date". He called and asked me to go out with him that evening. It was the best time! We bought and sold eggs. For those who don't have any idea what that is, it's a simple idea really. We split into two teams and we went on a scavenger style hunt. We went to the 1st house and said, "We are on a scavenger hunt and we would like to know if you have an egg you can spare." Usually after getting us to promise not to egg their house, most people gladly handed over an egg. We'd take it next door and, using a similar approach, "sell" the egg to the neighbor. We collected money that way and at the end of the designated time, the team with the most change won. We took the pennies and nickles and went to the local grocery store and bought generic ice cream and root beer, and plastic cups. We didn't earn enough money to buy spoons so we went and asked the stores deli for 8 spoons. They laughed at us, but let us have them. We took it all to the neighborhood park and had root beer floats. That was all a good time, but the icing on the cake for the evening was actually on the way home. Clay had a really early curfew, like 9 or something, and since he had driven his mom's van, he was trying to get a bunch of high school kids off the swing set and into the van before he was late. Finally he yelled and told them that he was leaving on the count of five. They all ran to the van and pile in. Problem came when the police car rolled around the corner just as a group of kids ran away into a waiting van. Yep. A no brainer. We got pulled over and Clay was so scared that he was in trouble for something. To be late AND have to explain a ticket of some sort was not going to go over well with his parents. He was beside himself. The police checked him out and asked what we were doing. Clay told him the ENTIRE story. Then the cop asked him if we had been drinking and Clay, in his nervousness, said YES!!! Then he offered the cop a root beer float. The cop was trying hard not to laugh and sent us on our way. I am pretty sure Clay was past his curfew that night!
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