convertible pulls up down at the other
end of the beach, and the license plate
says Sir Chad.
This handsome older man steps
out, and he starts walking across the
beach. He’s a hundred yards away,
and Ronnie spots him.
He yells, “Is that Chad Everett?”
And Chad Everett yells back, “Yes, it
is! You betcha!”
And Ronnie hoists himself up out
of this chair, and he starts running
across the beach. I’ve never seen Ron-
nie run ever. And he is running across
the beach. He’s kicking up the sand.
He’s going, “Chad Everett! Chad
Everett!”
I think he’s going to fall and wipe
out, and Chad Everett’s going, “Slow
down! Slow down! Slow down!”
Ronnie’s running toward him, and
he looks like a little boy.And when he reaches Chad Ever-
ett, he throws his arms around him,
and he says, “Chad, I’m so happy to
see you!”
They have a wonderful time. They
do skits together on the beach. Ronnie
interviews him. And they say a prayer.
It’s wonderful.
We take the red-eye home that
night, and Ronnie’s exhausted.
He’s a man who hasn’t slept for
weeks.
He says to me, “Well, Arthur, we did
it.” And then he finally goes to sleep.After that trip, I didn’t hear from Ron-
nie for quite a while, and that was
strange because he would call me so
often. When I finally did hear from
Ron, he had some bad news. He had
been diagnosed with leukemia, and
his mother told me privately that he
was given six months to live.
Ron said to me, “Look, I know that
Chad Everett’s a really busy man. But
do you think you could tell him about
this?”AFTER months of hoping and planning,
Ronnie finally meets Chad Everett on
a beach in California, and the big day is
captured for posterity.92 june 2019
Reader’s Digest