Losing a Friend
I have reached that age at which, increasingly, I will be losing my contemporaries. Over the last several years I have lost a few friends - a coworker who became a good friend as well as a friend made from moving in the same circles. The latter died rather unexpectedly, falling dead in the parking lot of his apartment on the way to his car.
On Tuesday last week the most devastating such loss to date occurred.
I received a phone call from the brother-in-law of my oldest, dearest friend (of nearly 45 years). I knew that it could not be good because this was someone I have only rarely seen in person. The reason for his call was the worst it could have been. I was informed that my friend had passed away sometime in the night. This just as I was starting my workday - one that proved to be among the longest and most challenging.
My circle of friends today is exponentially larger than that of my childhood and youth. This was the sole friend from my years growing up in a rural town south of the major city where I was born with whom I kept in contact. The only friend, in point of fact, I ever WANTED to keep in touch with from those years. When I embarked on my freshman year of college (his senior year of high school) we corresponded incessantly. As the years wore on we were in constant contact via mail or phone or audio cassettes. And in person of course.
He was the Best Man at my wedding and I at his many years later. During his bachelor years he was back in the same general area and my wife and I saw him nearly every weekend. He was there for me when I was hospitalized over 20 years back and again just last year. He and his wife were a huge part of our lives for many years as well as their adopted son. It has been far too recently that his wife passed away and now they are reunited. It is somewhat fortunate that their son is of an age where he is fully an adult, but at once the two constants in his life are now no longer with him. I hope for only the best for him going forward.
My friend and I had a bond that is unlike any I have known or likely ever will again. We shared a common language born of our shared experiences and stories. We collaborated on creative endeavors over many years. And we held a conversation that began decades ago and seemingly picked up again right where it left off each time we talked or were together.
Last week the endless conversation came to a close.
My life will never be as full again.
On Tuesday last week the most devastating such loss to date occurred.
I received a phone call from the brother-in-law of my oldest, dearest friend (of nearly 45 years). I knew that it could not be good because this was someone I have only rarely seen in person. The reason for his call was the worst it could have been. I was informed that my friend had passed away sometime in the night. This just as I was starting my workday - one that proved to be among the longest and most challenging.
My circle of friends today is exponentially larger than that of my childhood and youth. This was the sole friend from my years growing up in a rural town south of the major city where I was born with whom I kept in contact. The only friend, in point of fact, I ever WANTED to keep in touch with from those years. When I embarked on my freshman year of college (his senior year of high school) we corresponded incessantly. As the years wore on we were in constant contact via mail or phone or audio cassettes. And in person of course.
He was the Best Man at my wedding and I at his many years later. During his bachelor years he was back in the same general area and my wife and I saw him nearly every weekend. He was there for me when I was hospitalized over 20 years back and again just last year. He and his wife were a huge part of our lives for many years as well as their adopted son. It has been far too recently that his wife passed away and now they are reunited. It is somewhat fortunate that their son is of an age where he is fully an adult, but at once the two constants in his life are now no longer with him. I hope for only the best for him going forward.
My friend and I had a bond that is unlike any I have known or likely ever will again. We shared a common language born of our shared experiences and stories. We collaborated on creative endeavors over many years. And we held a conversation that began decades ago and seemingly picked up again right where it left off each time we talked or were together.
Last week the endless conversation came to a close.
My life will never be as full again.
