Take a minute to reach out to old friends, to let them know how much they mean to you.TLDR

Sorry, it's long. If you don't want to read, don't bother. Just call someone you care about before you can't.

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Got a message this morning from someone I'd met through MY friend at an event.

Saying "I don't know if you know, I'm not quite sure what to say."

That was it.
But I knew where our connection was...and I know a text like that is never good.

I knew his lady had some health issues...so I reached out. Said I didn't know what had happened, but I loved them.

That's the last text I'll ever get to send him.

Because his lady is okay. Well, she's here. They found my friend at the foot of the stairs. Sometimes you just go.

The last time we dealt with a death, it was our mutual friend. Our friend's fiancée found him in his chair in the back yard when he didn't come to bed.

This time it was my buddy. Gone before he hit 50. You never know. No warning. No long lingering illness.

Just a goodbye like a gutshot. All the plans you made laughing, the "we'll do it this way next year." All shot to shite.


We get one go. One ride, no return ticket. No guarantees, no refunds. The early years I knew him he struggled with a lot of unsettled issues. These last few he made a lot of peace, reconciled and turned things around. So glad he did. I didn't see that bitterness in him anymore. the last time I got a chance to see him, I almost didn't take it.

I had too much going on, couldn't afford it, blah blah blah. But I knew it was important to him, and for a good cause, so I said yes. Crashed on their couch. A benefit event. And man...we Laughed so much. There was a LOT of labor but the group we were with, good people. Made it easy. We raised a lot of money for a great cause (kids) and we were all about making it better for next year.

Well...there will be a next year but he won't be there. An empty chair. But we soldier on in honor of the ones who can't be there. That's what it's all about, right?


Anyway...if you've got friends that mean something to you...maybe you haven't talked in a while. Maybe you were cold the last time you parted.

Reach out with some warmth, or your next parting might be a cold one.

I get the cold comfort of looking around my house and seeing things my friend made. He was a woodworker, and damn fine one. I can pick up and touch a dozen things he made. Sawed and sanded and oiled...

I'm lucky. I can hold my memories of him. More than a lot of us can say.

Good friends only come along so often. And when they're gone they're gone. So let them know how much they mean while you can. Last goodbye's the hardest.


Peace.