Sandi, Sam, Sister and Mr. Mac – my deepest condolences for your loss.

How do you sum up a man that changed your life?  When I first met Tom, I couldn’t believe how. . . scared I was.  Then I started spending time with Tom, listening, observing.  My fear soon turned to admiration, admiration to amazement, and amazement to deep love.  I had never seen a living, breathing adventure – in the flesh.  Tom taught me that you could make a living having fun.

One of my favorite things about Tom is that you never knew what the next thing was gonna be that he was an expert on.  He was a self-proclaimed expert on so many different things.  One time Tom and Russ and me were discussing grabbing a bite to eat.  One of us mentioned hamburgers, but fast food just wouldn’t do for Tom.  “Naw, I’ll show you how to make a hamburger.  Follow me.”  So Russ and I followed Tom upstairs right then.  He fired up the grill, thawed the meat, and proceeded to make the best and greasiest hamburger I’d ever had. 

Tom was like that delicious greasy hamburger – sloppy perfection.  Right when you thought he was just shootin’ from the hip, you looked up and realized that he was hitting the target most every time. 

Once a few years back, Granbury Live was part of a local career day.  It’s when about 30 eighth graders come in to find out what you do for a living – but they’re really much more excited about getting to cut class.  Russ tossed me the career day responsibility, because. . . Russ likes to toss me those kinds of things.  Just when I’d squeezed my 10 minutes of material into 30, Tom walks in.  He didn’t know what we were doing, and the kids probably thought he was the fix-it guy or something.  He had on his bibbed overalls, a ball cap, and a pencil behind his ear – he’d come straight from the shop.  Once he found out it was career day, he went into “Tom” mode.  Like a carnival barker, he used his tape measure for a pointer, and the “old guy” went on to mesmerize 30 eighth graders, asking the pimpled pupils such questions as “What makes a business successful?” and “What do you want to do with your life?”  That was Tom, and they loved him.  How did he do that? 

And then there’s my little part of Tom’s story.  I’m honored to be at least a parenthetical in Tom’s last chapter.  Because you see in my life journey, my boat had an anchor, and it had a sail, but I didn’t have a good compass.  That’s when God brought Tom into my life – when I needed direction.  I had all of this creative energy locked up inside me and nowhere to let it out.  Tom showed me how.  Early on when I met him, completely intimidated, he asked, “Carey, what’s your passion?  What makes you tick?  What do you hope to be in ten years?”  What do I hope to be in ten years – taller?  I don’t know!  But he got me to thinking, and he let me know that he believed in me.  He told me that all of my silliness and singing was worth something to somebody. 

Someone said, “The key to success is simple.  Make people dream.”  That was Tom. 

I hope the streets of gold are good and sturdy – ‘cause Tom is probably tearing ‘em up by now.  Maybe he found Paul and said “You’ve never had a hamburger?  Follow me!”  Maybe he’s asking Moses, “Where do you see yourself 1,000 years from now.”  Heaven is holy and special because of God.  And I guarantee you that heaven is a lot more interesting today because of Tom McRae. 

Mama Hen, Sandi -- I like to think that Tom met up with Mr. A.J. – over at the Eastern gate.  They’re just romping around heaven with Jesus.  Now that’s an adventure.