It was mid-afternoon on Monday when I rambled into Floyd’s 99 Barbershop at the corner of Arapahoe and Parker Road. This Denver franchise is quite a place, and locations are springing up all over the city.
There was no line, so I took the first available barber, an Asian woman. I gave her a few practical and some philosophical instructions about my hair and she took off. It was clipper, scissors and comb in a flurry of activity. Then hot shaving cream on the back of my neck, a straight edge, and I was done. The final step was to spin around so that I could cast an evaluative glance at the larger than life mirror that covered the entire west wall of the location.
The immediate reaction to the image I saw was nothing short of astounding. There, in the mirror of a local, hip, rock music playing barbershop, I saw my dad. The cut, the styling, the color… and I suppose the middle-aged face. It was Sam Wolgemuth.
I think my heart skipped a beat. I regrouped, smiled, complimented the work, paid and then sauntered outside.
My emotions banged around like the ball inside a pinball machine. I was overcome. I was humbled. I was inspired.
In February of 2002 my father died. At that point in his life he was a shell of what he had been, but his reputation and his legacy were well established and undaunted. I’ve treaded on some of the same soil that Sam walked upon… always with thanks and the deepest sense of respect.
It takes more than a haircut and the appropriate styling to be that man. He wasn’t perfect, but he was Godly, committed and good to the core. He loved what he did, and he was inspired by those that sacrificed to be a part of the mission. He tenderly and ruthlessly guarded and loved my mother. She fueled him… and he knew it. And he loved his kids, his in-laws, and his grandkids. We kindled a joy in him that made each of us feel like an only child.
Sam Wolgemuth loved God. Passionately. Sacrificially. Humbly.
The glimpse that I caught on Monday afternoon was the conduit through which his legacy flashed. In an instant he was there… and in the next he was gone, and it was just me. Not alone but ignited. Not pressured to live up to his reputation, but inspired to love the Almighty like he did. To risk. To invest. To dream and to trust like only Sam could do.
On Monday afternoon… a glimpse… the image of Sam in the body of Dan, and with it a challenge that rivets my soul to the throne of grace.
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