Yes.
Last night I received a message from the oldest daughter of one of my closest friends, Kyle. She asked me to call her Mom, my friend's wife, which I did right away. During the call, she explained that Kyle's kidneys are slowly failing and that he was home under hospice care. She told me she was calling all her husband's close friends.
A photo I snapped after my visit today
Like most middle-aged men, I don't have a lot of friends, that is, people with whom I hang out, do stuff with, etc. My close friends, then, are people to whom I was close decades ago. Even when it comes to those, I can count them on fewer fingers than I have on one hand.
My closest friend, Tim, after whom my oldest son is named, died less than two years after we graduated from high school. Another close friend, Steven, died when we were in junior high. I was one of his pallbearers. Steven's funeral Mass was my first exposure to the Catholic Church.
So, this afternoon, I drove about 50 miles to basically say goodbye to someone who means a lot to me. I hope to make it back to Kyle's house before he passes. He was too tired to really interact today. I had a nice visit with his wife and his 2 lovely daughters. He could hear us.
It was Kyle, an outstanding guitarist, who taught me what I know about guitar. It is a testament to his patience. You know those friends you used to sit up talking to all night about anything and everything? Yeah... I thought you did.
Our traditito for this hot, dry Friday in July is Peter Murphy's "Cuts You Up."
No comments:
Post a Comment