Memories of Mark

Today I deleted Dr. Mark Welch from my address book!

Here are the thoughts I had when I prepared for my talk at his memorial and wake:

First meeting; his endless energy and business
Trips to YOU events in Washington
        We both wore out in Oregon; pulled off the highway and pulled over beside train tracks; beautiful night sky with stars; scary train passing
        Turned up the wrong highway and got deep in Washington; had to turn around
        Stopped outside of Yakima with leaking oil; delayed for a couple of hours; missed a nasty wreck
        Dropped a transmission in Boise; Sky and others pushed the van; got to my parents’ house in shifts; got nice van and made rest of trip
        Drove separately; he missed the turn with Jim and a couple others; missed LeRoy’s concert, but helped a stranded lady to safety
        Tickets; I was pulled over 3 times without a ticket; he volunteered to get pulled over in Oregon and got a ticket
        Food fight at Perkins in Pocatello
        Was a good flirt and dancer at the events; tried hard to get me out on the floor with the kids
        Was committed to helping the kids have events at home as well as in Washington
        His driving; slow down, speed up, in lanes, out of lanes
        HOURS OF DISCUSSIONS OF LIFE, VALUES AND HOW WE COULD BETTER SERVE THE KIDS

Haley; no one was more important to Mark than Haley; he went through agony every time they moved. He even left Utah to find work in Hawaii just so that he could be close to her. I’ve never heard more hopeful and agonized sharing than when he talked about his Haley and his hopes for her.

Mark’s spontaneity
        YOU was meeting in a kitchen at a middle school and Mark decided one day that we wanted to have an experience of trust. He noticed that there was a counter top so he had us all stand on it and do trust falls!

        Jim wanted to go to the IYOU event in Missouri and even though they hadn’t done paperwork Mark decided to take Jim. They got in Mark’s car and started driving. Mark assumed that they wouldn’t be turned away (forgiveness vs permission) and he was right. On the way they had at least two interesting experiences:
        Jim, our good looking Marine, was gothic at the time. He was wearing a long, black leather coat. to add excitement to their day they stopped at Columbine for lunch!
        Somewhere along the way tension arose with the two of them stuck with each other for the whole trip; one of them got out of the car and was walking down the highway!
        
He showed up at YOU one day with CDs for us. He had just compiled some of his writings in a CD called Jesus in Blue Jeans

A couple of years ago, Mark showed up in town, out of nowhere. He had been working for the feds in Texas. He got in to his car and started driving and next thing he knew he was in Salt Lake. He actually stayed in his car for a while, but came to Youth of Unity his first Sunday back.
        He ended up becoming a dean at Stevens Henager College and was able to get John Daughters a job there, helping young kids (does this sound like a theme) to prepare for life. I didn’t have the credentials to teach, but he got me some cameo presentations and tried to help me make connections, too.
        Next thing I knew, he had shifted to online learning and was doing Internet Radio and other avant guard activities to help young people gain knowledge
        Our last meeting was at Religious Science; he had told me he had some promotion ideas for me; he told me about his Internet Radio program and wanted to teach me how to do it. He talked about the world needing my message and he could help me build a fan base.

DR. MARK; I LOVE YOU MAN AND MISS YOU. MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!