To the best of my recollection, I first met Chris Runck at the RYC (Regional Youth Conference) at Manchester College in North Manchester, Indiana during the Spring of 1988. Along with Lee McAdams, he would join me as we stole away for a cigarette amidst the Brethren Church proceedings (under some bridge as I recall?). We bacame fast friends and would go on to hang out quite a bit over the next three years’ worth of Youth Camps during the Summers. And like Lee, the last that I saw him was when I drove away from my last week of Youth Camp at Woodland Altars during the Summer of 1990.
He was always a good guy, sharing with me the love of the church along with the occasional biting sarcasm and wit. It seemed that Chris, Lee, and I became the Three Musketeers (or go ahead and say it…Stooges) each of those last three Summers at camp. I recall that after the week of camp in 1988, Chris even drove me back home to my house in Beavercreek. It was interesting that he actually visited my neighborhood, and you will soon learn why.
Oh those crazy days at the Woodland Altars pool
When I began looking for old friends more than two years ago, Chris was one who ranked high on my list of ‘where are they now’s’. I had tracked him to Florida but could not come up with a phone number that worked. I periodically checked Facebook to see if he might have opened up an account, but was always disappointed. In the meantime, he was moving back to Ohio during January of 2008.
Then one fateful day, I was looking at my friend Jason Heaton’s Facebook page when suddenly out of the corner of my eye I noticed that Jason was now friends with a guy named Chris Runck. The photo was too small to tell if it was the Chris that I knew, but I soon learned that he in fact was the right guy. Jason had went to Northmont High School with him. We were finally back in touch.
It wasn’t long before we made plans to meet up, and on Wednesday, January 21, 2009, after work I found myself heading to his house in Westchester. From the pictures I had seen of Chris, I could not believe how much he had changed. This former skinny Flock of Seagulls wannabee had become a burly, bearded nightclub bouncer that I doubt many would want to mess with – although in reality he works as a Home Depot account manger for Citibank. But of course, once I met him again in person, he was still the same old friend: a great guy with a little bit of a bite to his sense of humor. Nothing had changed.
Kristen and Chris
Um…yeah we’ve changed a bit!
Well except that he now had a lovely wife named Kristen and two adorable kids. When I entered their home, young Abigail greeted me at the door and began talking up a storm. Chris’ wife had attended Beavercreek High School as I had and had graduated the year after me in 1991. I recognized her but couldn’t quite place her.
That is unti she told me where she used to live…on Pine Bluff Drive in my old neighborhood…all of her life! In fact, as soon as she showed me her picture from that time period, I immediately recognized her from all of those bus rides that we had shared throughout our many years of school together. Although we had never really hung out (we lived at the furtherst possible points from each other in the neighborhood), she did hang out with many of my old friends in the ‘hood like Dawn and Mike Weller.
So you can see why it was a bit coincidental that Chris had driven me home, entering the neighborhood where Kristen Miller, his future wife, was living. Apparently they had crossed paths all of their lives, but didn’t meet until the late 1990’s. And incidentally, Kristen and Chris were both living with her parents, still in the neighborhood. So at the same time I was returning to meet up with Heidi for the first time in February 2008, and in desperate search for Chris, he was there in the same neighborhood…my old one. Freakin’ small world.
I never miss a chance to be photographed with someone from the old ‘hood
Jacob and Abigail, two of the friendliest kids I’ve ever met
It was great to hang out with Chris, and see Kristen (and eat her great meatloaf), and to meet their incredible kids Abigail and Jacob. Can you tell I was very pleased with this reunion? I hope that we can hang out again very soon. They’re great people, this family.
Continue with the next reunion…
Continue with 2009…
What a small world! Did I ever cross paths with Chris?? He looks SO familiar!
Scott Sliver
January 27th, 2009
The even smaller world is that we attended Church at the Vineyard in Beavercreek and did not even know that Brad and I had a mutual freind, Scott, or that Scott and I have a mutual freind Dan Plunkett.
Chris Runck
January 28th, 2009
Hey if you check this Chris get in touch. Brad has my info. Also you spelled friend wrong:)
Lee McAdams
February 6th, 2009