Ugliest Reverse Lay-up Ever

I'm one of those people who likes to write in their scriptures. A while back I saw a quote I had written down from an institute class. Brother Knect said, "No death of a righteous person is untimely". For some reason that quote stuck with me. It was just a little while after that when I got the news that Keith McDermott was in the hospital.

His family moved into our ward when I was in my senior year of high school. Keith was called to work with the young men in the ward. He was a genuinely nice guy and you could tell that he liked working with the youth. I didn't spend a whole lot of time with him as my leader, because I was quickly off on my mission. When I returned from my mission I got to know Keith better. We served together in various aspects involving the church. Somehow it seemed like whenever some kind of service was being performed, Keith was there with his mustached smile. I knew him to be a great home teacher, friend and family man. The most important thing he did for me was being a positive influence in my brother's life.

On November 15th my family went to go visit him in the hospital. It was a fitting day to go see him, because that was the day Jed and Cyndi got sealed in the temple. Keith was always around for the important events in Jed's life, and I'm sure he would have been in the temple that day too if it were possible. Unfortunately, that was the last time we saw Keith. Here are a couple of pictures from that day:

And here is a picture from Jed's Melchizedek Priesthood ordination. Keith is standing next to Mike.
Today we said goodbye to Keith. The building at his funeral was packed, and I learned even more about what a great person he was. I don't know why Heavenly Father does the things that he does. I just trust that he sees the bigger picture. While it is sad that Keith is gone, I'm sure that Heavenly Father had his reasons for taking him back. It was an excellent service and having a knowledge of the gospel makes a huge difference at funerals.

Everybody seems to have at least one Keith story to share, so here is mine. I remember one night playing basketball many years ago. Keith came to play that night. He requested to guard me. I remember looking at him in his biker shorts and sports goggles. He stood about a foot shorter than me and was about 20 years older than me. I thought it would be an easy night for me. I was very wrong. He made his whole purpose to keep me from getting the ball, and was very successful. It meant that he wouldn't get the ball much himself, but he was willing to make that sacrifice to benefit his team. He did get the ball a couple of times and proceeded to sink the ugliest reverse lay-up that I had ever seen. I seem to remember him falling to the ground afterward as well. It didn't matter what it looked like as long as it went in. I remember finishing that game and feeling roughed up and frustrated. And so it was with Keith. As the years have passed I have played a lot of basketball, but I can't remember anybody who shut me down as well as Keith. He will be missed, but it was a privilege to get to know him as long as I did.