When I was in my freshman year in high school, my parents moved us from Kansas City, MO to Emporia KS. We lived in a small community that consisted of 2-3 trailer homes and several pre-fab houses.
We only lived there for two years, but during that time I became very close friends with our neighbor, David Whittington. We became such close friends that he fell in love with my cousin and moved to Kansas City when we left the area.
David had a brother who was older than him. Rodney hung out with us now and then. Sometimes we would travel into town and hang out with him at the mechanic shop where he was employed.
Rodney and I were not close, but we were familiar. All of our conversations were in the presence of others. He was always super nice to me. Once We moved back to Kansas City, that relationship ended.
A couple of years ago I was surfing LinkedIn, and I found Rodney’s profile. He was now running an LTC facility in Olathe, KS. I commented a couple times on some of his posts. He had masterfully navigated some of the challenges his facility was facing with COVID.
Shortly after we reconnected, the agency I was working for admitted a couple patients in his building. I was very excited! This was an opportunity to reconnect and reminisce.
I had a nurse with me who was on orientation. We entered Rodney’s facility and followed the procedures. This was in the heart of the pandemic, so it took a few minutes.
We worked our way to the administration offices. Rodney’s secretary greeted us.
“Can I help you?”
“Yeah, I’m a friend of Rodney’s from back when I was in high shook. I have not seen him in over 30 years.”
“Oh wow! Okay, what’s your name?”
“Well, I go by James now, but back when I knew him I went by Stacy.”
“Okay, well, he is in a meeting, but it is almost over. Have a seat.”
Shortly after sitting down, Rodney invited me into his office. We visited for about 20 minutes. I reminisced with him about our time in Emporia. I told him that I see David routinely around town. Our conversation eventually moved to the challenges all facilities were facing at the time trying to navigate COVID. He was polite and kind through the conversation. He treated me like he had all the time in the world even though that was far from the truth.
I left his facility feeling good. It was nice to reconnect with someone after so long.
A couple months later I happened to run into David at our local Walmart. I was so excited to share with him how I got to visit with his brother Rodney after so many years.
“Hey Dave, how is it going?”
“I’m good. How are you?”
“I’m good! Hey, I got to see your brother a couple months ago! I found out he is an administrator at a nursing home in Olathe and went by to visit.”
David looked at me like I was a complete stranger. His stare was so blank that he was almost looking right through me. I almost felt like I was in an alternate universe where I was a complete stranger to David, and we had never met. I almost wondered if I was addressing the correct person in front of me. It was eerie!
“Hello? Dave? You have a brother named Rodney Whittington, right?”
“Yes, but he doesn’t run a nursing home.”
”Sure he does! I just sat in his office a couple months ago, and we, well I, reminisced about our time in Emporia.”
“Not with my brother you didn’t. My brother works in Topeka.”
I grabbed my phone and opened LinkedIn. I found a picture of Rodney Whittington and showed it to him.
David broke out in loud laughter!
”That’s not my brother! I don’t know who you were talking to, but it wasn’t my brother.”
David pulled out his phone and found his brother on Facebook and showed me his picture. These two Rodney Whittingtons resembled each other like a chihuahua resembles a bullmastiff.
To this day I wonder what Rodney Whittington in Olathe, KS thought of me that day. He handled the whole thing with grace and poise.
I barely know the Rodney Whittington from Emporia, KS. Apparently, I knew the Rodney Whittington from Olathe, KS even less!
