Full Circle, Five Years Apart

Easter Sunday, April the 8th

Today, fifteen years ago, was a heavy day for my wife Sarah’s family. Her older brother, William Andrew Hilleke, went to be with the Lord on Easter Sunday, April 8, 2007, after a prolonged illness. He was 24 years old. Andrew’s uncle, Pastor Steve Wilkins, wrote this to our church after Andrew’s passing:

“Andrew was a faithful friend and example to hundreds (if not thousands—it seems like everyone knew Andrew)—and this will be one of the greatest legacies of his life. The memory of his patient perseverance and joyful contentment in the face of pain and daily trial will bear fruit for many, many years. He read voraciously and widely. He was an outstanding student (graduating from Belhaven College with a degree in library science). His interests were wide and varied—there was hardly a topic discussed to which he couldn't contribute something interesting, and if you happened to raise a topic he didn't know much about, he was one of the most interested listeners you could ever have. His life, though all too short from our perspective, was full and blessed.”

Andrew and his father, Jim Hilleke

God’s Kindness Five Years Later

Saturday evening, April 7, 2012, a good bit of Sarah’s family gathered in Monroe to be together on the fifth anniversary weekend of Andrew’s passing. We had a wonderful meal at Cotton that evening. In the night and into the early hours of that Easter Sunday morning, Sarah went into labor with our first daughter, Samantha Annice Richey. Sammy was not only born on Easter Sunday but on April 8 as well.

It was a marvelous testimony of God’s goodness and faithfulness, especially to have extended family and great-grandparents already in town for Samantha’s birth.

Sarah’s Grandmother, Grandfather, and Aunt Leigh.

Sarah, Samantha, and her mother, Laura Hilleke

This day will always be a memorable day for our family. What was a day marked with sadness turned into another ten years full of memories of Andrew and now of Samantha as well. Today Sammy is a “Ten-Ager.”

Andrew in Natchez, MS (Summer 2006) & Samantha in Monroe, LA (March 2022)