I wanted to write to thank you for the overwhelmingly warm and friendly welcome you gave to me and my partner David when we visited your city in early March. The reason for our visit was a sad one, as we were there to sort outtheestateofmylatebrother, Jon Shipp. Despite this, our brief time in your community left us with a wealth of poignant and happy memories.
When Jon left the UK for a life in the US a quarter of a century ago, he spent many years travelling, trying to find a town that he could call home. After a couple of failed attempts in Ohio and Utah, he ended up in Spur. I suspect he believed himself to be the sort of person who didn’t truly fit in anywhere. But he was wrong! From what Jon told his family back in the UK, the folk of Spur offeredhimthehandoffriendship and made him feel truly welcome. I believe that the 14 years he lived in Spur were the most contented of his life, where his role as bee-man madehimavaluablemember of the community, and where he was respected simply for being himself.
Many of you knew my brother, and we were truly touched by the number of people who stopped by to introduce themselves to us, tell us their stories about Jon, or simply pay their respects.
I would particularly like to thank Judge Kevin Brendle and Deputy Jay Allen, who took care of so much in our absence and welcomed us on our arrival, to Elaine, my attorney, for patiently guiding methroughthelegallabyrinth (how lucky did I feel to find an attorney in a city the size of Spur!), to Jon’s neighbour Eileen for providing us with delicious sandwiches (and for letting me use her toilet!), to everyone at the Ole Town Café for keeping us so well fed and for providing an oasis for us to relax in, to the lads at the Farmers Coop for telling us their tales of Jon’s ‘BS’, to Dustin the FedEx man, whose quick-wittedness led to Jon’s passing being discovered and whose toots as he drove past the house always made us smile, to Greg for taking on the role of selling Jon’s vehicles and for his advice on how to kill a rattlesnake (it’s unlikely to ever come in handy in the UK, but better safe than sorry!), to Tony for guiding me through the real estate process, to Debbie at Caprock for helping me understand the concept of a coop, to all the staff at the courthouse in Dickens for being so efficient, to theTexas Spur for publishing this for me (how lucky are you to have your own newspaper!), toWes for being such a good friend andneighbour,toArgentinaat Spur Security Bank for putting up with my complete lack of understandingoftheUSbanking system, and last but definitely not least, an especially warm thank you to Rebecca for helping to rehome Jon’s cats, to Kelly for taking care of Jon’s girls (his bees), and to their parents for helping us tackle what seemed to be such an overwhelming task when we first arrived. I wish Kelly the very best of luck filling Jon’s role as Spur bee-man and keeping the Spur Apiary name alive. I feel sure that Jon would have been very happy to know that his good friend would take his place, albeit sooner than either of them would have liked.
We were overwhelmed by your kind-heartedness and sincerity. Speaking as someone who lives in a town in the UK with nearly half a million inhabitants, where no one says hello to anyone on the street, and neighbours can go for years without speaking to each other, it honestly almost brought a tear to my eye when I walked into the Ole Town Café, after less than a week in Spur, and spotted new friends at so many of the tables, all of whom waved and smiled. Throughout his life, Jon lived in many places, but Spur was the only one that he ever called home.Your community is truly special, and I would like to thank you all for allowing my brother to become a part of it.
Dickens County is a beautiful part of the world: the massive skiesanddazzlingsunsets, theroadsthatgostraightonto infinity and beyond, and the vast expanses of open space where you can appreciate nature (even the rattle snakes) without another soul around. Before we arrived, we had no idea what to expect, but we left converted and hope that we can find a reason to come back again sometime soon.
With best wishes from a grey and rainy England!
Alex Gorringe
