The Miracle Man

The first time I saw Charles Kelly, he was standing in the choir at a small Baptist Church in N.E. Texas. He had thick black curly hair that set off his thick black glasses. His smile was broad and winsome and the twinkle in his eyes was hypnotic. I was 19 and it was spring. We dated for about 6 weeks before we decided to marry. My mom was not happy with this decision and convinced us we should wait 3 months at least. Against the desires of our heart, we did. Charles was from the S. E. Texas back woods. He came from poverty and God fearing parents. We had been married less than 20 years when he started having sudden severe facial pain that would make him jump right straight in the air with the intense pain. It didn’t last long, but was caused by nothing the doctor could discover. He endured this pain for the rest of his life. As a man who worked painting houses most of our married life, he eventually began many years of trips to the dermatologist to have the cancers removed. The first big one looked like a large wart on his nose that the wicked witch of the west would have worn proudly. Another was a large growth on the very top of his head that finally curved toward his face. It reminded me of a unicorn’s horn. When the Dermatologist removed it, there was a 6 inch long seam down the middle of his bald head. When they stitched up the seam, there were skin ruffles all across his forehead! It didn’t seem to effect his playing in the band. Many smaller…