Fast forward 20 hours. I had told everyone I thought might care. I had made sure Hannah would be there so we could work it into a “homeschool” experience. I had my camera in hand. I was nervous because I would never know what to say to a famous person. “Hey… How’s it going….duh!” But, here I felt that being a fan of the show I could ask a question or two, get an autograph and move on. Was there some mild idol worship- I had to ask myself, I don’t think so…
So, we showed up, stood in line with Hannah’s preschool teacher, got our autograph asked him a couple questions and moved on letting the next person in line have their moment. The line was pretty short so after wandering around for 20 minutes we got back in line and waited for another chance to speak for a few minutes with him. As the line wrapped up and it was almost time for him to go a few more people got in line behind us as we finally got our chance to speak to him again, making me feel pressure to be quick. At the end of it all I walked away feeling like Captain Phil Harris was the kind of guy you could sit down to dinner with and have a long interesting conversation. What impressed me was that for every question I asked he engaged in the conversation. Like, if there weren’t people waiting you could have more than ,"I really like your show." And he didn’t just answer questions about himself, he asked questions back. For example, when we said Hannah was homeschooling and wanted to learn more about what he did he asked her how it was going for her. The kind of person who is not only interesting but will take an interest, as well. Then again, maybe he was just being polite and really just wanted to get out of there.
On last nights previews for next weeks show we learned that Captain Phil had a near fatal experience. I got online today and found out quickly that he indeed had some problems. When I asked him if he was getting better he said he would know in two months. His situation is precarious and though it was loud in the store and hard to hear I thought he said he had another blood clot that they were keeping an eye on. This is very scary as it can actually lead to death. He said that the DR. told him he could not survive the same thing again.
Each person is valued by God and is loved like a child is loved by a parent. Phil Harris is no exception. It is easy to take a famous person out of that place of being loved by God and scrutinize their life and actions but God’s view of the person remains the same. It has become a burden on my heart today to pray for this man and the people in his life. From the TV program we know Captain Phil to be a superstitious man. All the captains pray before heading out to sea and I would imagine that such a deadly occupation holds few non-believers. If you have read to the end of this longer than usual entry, please stop for a second and say a prayer for this man and his loved ones. Pray for his life, his health, his soul, his efforts to quit smoking. You may hold no kind feelings in your heart for Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie, but God loves him deeply and cares as much for him as he does for you or me.
And to Captain Phil, If you are ever in the area again, you are invited to dinner so we can have that conversation that I think would be so interesting.
