senior Scoops

The Death of a Friend

This is a story I wrote for an old friend a while ago. Senior Scoops is not just about money, I hope to make it more about life. Today would have been my friends birthday.

2023 is a long way from 1976 in so many ways.

My sister sent me an old faded picture. It is a shot of a dozen or so young laughing faces. We were sitting around a long table strewn with half-empty beer glasses and packs of Marlboro reds. We were young. We were innocent. We had no idea!

She thought the photo was from my going away party before I left for Germany. I would be away in the service for 2 years.

Of course, she sent the “pic” in a text after digitizing it with her phone.

2023 is a long way from 1976 in so many ways.

I am barely visible in the corner of the frame, but you can see I am smiling at a friend sitting next to me. He is bent over in laughter. What can be seen of his smile and curly hair, to those who knew him, made his identity unmistakable. I have no idea what we were laughing at. We laughed a lot back then. There wasn’t much that worried us. Life’s difficult lessons had yet to infringe on our hubris.

I got a Facebook message the other day that my curly-haired friend had passed away. His health had been poor for a while — his time had come. He was only 69.

“Only 69” — LOL!

2023 is a long way from 1976 in so many ways.

Processing the death of a friend, someone so close in age, and so dear, is no easy matter. I have been on an emotional rollercoaster since.

I smile at how he made me laugh. I regret unresolved misunderstandings. I ache for the physical and emotional pain he endured in his illness. But, above all, I am grateful for the spot he carved out in his life for me a long time ago. Everybody wanted a piece of him. I am happy I got mine. I miss him, although I haven’t seen him for years.

Like I mentioned — a rollercoaster. But, as I write this, I am coming to terms.

We have all gone through the pain and joys that life will bring. The faces from my photograph are no longer bright-eyed and shiny — they are old and gray. Worn from living their lives as best they could. Some, like my friend, have also passed to the other side–a fate that awaits us all.

2023 is a long way from 1976 in so many ways — God’s speed, my friend.