Duane

Everyone has to have someone to go to seek counsel. First and foremost, the Lord God, Creator of heaven and earth - not a bad first pick. But on the human side, hopefully your spouse is not only a fantastic person, but your best friend (props to Mad). Then you have your wedding party and your children's Godparents. And, of course, your own parents and, with God's grace, your in-laws (I'm not kidding - you've gotta be able to talk to them!). But then, sometimes, you need someone who cares but doesn't know the ins & outs ... an objective, caring ear. For me, this is Duane.

Duane has been my barber for nearly 6 years, since my move to the Lansing area. Mad & I decided that although she did a decent job on my hair we enjoyed using those 4+ hours more productively. That's when I walked into Duane's place, "Arkies' Barbershop."

I saw "Coming to America" yesterday for the millionth time. Talk about barbershops. People make a lot of crazy claims in the context of getting your hair cut. One guy came in trying to sell us an indestructible glass cutting board. The other barber, Bill, is a collector of all things Santa. I'm always getting flack for being a Wolverine, unless its football season.

But I trust Duane. Not because he's been cutting hair for over 50 years. Not because his clients include several high ranking officials, including the Univesity president and others who always get him great sporting event seats. Not even because he went to my church the week before my wedding, found my number and cut my hair because he was heading to an unexpected surgery that week.

I trust Duane because he loves the Lord. A simple man who does not claim to be perfect - he often retells his parenting mistakes to me that I may learn a thing or two. Within our first meeting, I realized the strength and stability of his faith. And with all the 'advice' thrown around nowadays, don't we all need a little Duane in our lives?