1/19/03
First the geneology of it: Jeptha's father (also Jeptha) and my mother are brother and sister.
Jeptha's name, which a lot of people have trouble with when they first meet him (Jeff? Jeff-uh? Huh?),
is a family name. It goes back to family from the mid-1800s, I believe. I don't think it goes any further
than that, but someone might correct me on that. Jeptha is a biblical name (bet you didn't know that), but
someone's going to have to tell me where, because I checked a bunch of online bible's and I couldn't find it
with any of the bible searches. I did find references to Jeptha in the bible, but then couldn't find it myself. Help!!!!
Okay, enough about his name and on to some of my memories.
Jeptha is one of a number of my first cousins that I'm very close with. He and
Archie and I were the three amigos growing up and we're still quite close. Jeptha
and his sisters were the odd ones out in that they didn't grow up in Arkansas, but in Teaneck, NJ. Fortunately,
their parents still saw fit to bring them down to Arkansas enough that we got to be really close. I have
tons of great memories from our childhood, including the time Jeptha and Archie and I ran around the block at
my grandmother's house, timing each other. This was actually about 3/4 mile (big block!). Jeptha was on track
at school, so he was obviously the fastest. I think that's why we were doing it. Just so he could show
off how fast he was.
Jeptha has always been one of my role models. He's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet and not that
superficial, "Hi, how ya doin?" nice. He genuinely cares for people in a way few people do. He always
tries to find the best in people and never seems to judge them harshly. I can remember times in high school
where I'd make some harsh judgement of someone and Jeptha would try to set me straight by telling me their
good qualities. All I can say is, the world would be a better place with more people like him around.
In addition to these qualities, he's always been successful in things he's done. He always excelled in school
and went on to George Washington Law School to get his law degree. He now is partner in a firm in San Francisco.
In the summer of 1988, I believe it was, Jeptha lived with my mother and I so he could intern at the
Public Defender's office in D.C. for the summer. During this summer, he and I drove
out to the mountains of Virginia to go camping. While I hesitate discussing everything that happened, suffice it
to say, we drank way too much. I woke up in a panic in the middle of the night thinking a bear was attacking
our cooler (ice was melting in the cooler and making a scraping sound), and we got a visit from Ranger Dwayne,
in the morning, who discussed the hazards of camp fires and how they get into the "duff" and spread. As Jep
was putting the tent together, I made a huge fire, being careful to make sure there were plenty of leaves so they
could float around and land on the roof of the tent to burn some ventilation holes in it. As we were borrowing
the tent from a friend, I ended up purchasing that tent and still have it today. All-in-all, it was a great trip
and we had a lot of fun.
While I was an undergraduate at The George Washington University, Jeptha was going to GWU Law School, so we
got to spend a great deal of time together. We laughed, we cried, we drank way too much. And one of those nights
when we drank too much, we were leaving a bar. Jeptha came up behind my girlfriend at the time and gave her a
bearhug. I don't know if it took her by surprise or what, but the next thing I knew, Jeptha was flying through the
air and landed on his back on the sidewalk. She just flipped him like a burger. Jeptha got his revenge by giving
me a ride in a shopping cart that we came across walking home one night. The ride was a bit rough and I remember
having cuts all over my back and sides.
While I lived in Mexico the first time, Jeptha was my most regular visitor. He worked in a law office in D.C. doing immigration
work and often had to meet with clients outside of the country for work. To save his clients money and get a Saturday
stay on his plane tickets, Jeptha would often come down to Mexico and spend the weekend and then go to some other
city in Mexico to meet with the clients during the week.
Jeptha started dating Katie, his wife, shortly before I left for Mexico in May 1998. They got engaged during their
New Years 2000 visit to Playa del Carmen, and got married shortly after my return to the States. And they lived
happily ever after ;-)
