Saturday, December 26, 2009

Oh jeez Louise

Why is it that such sad things seem to happen around Christmas or is it that they happen all the time but the emotions around the holidays run deeper? We lost a very dear friend on Christmas Eve. A week earlier he had a massive stroke while driving out of his neighborhood, drove his truck into the water and was in intensive care since then. He never regained consciousness and most likely never would have. He would have hated being incapaciated so in many ways it is a blessing he didn't linger on. His wife is one of my best friends and we had dinner with them just a few days before. We hung out together, dined together regularly and we had the pleasure of introducing them to the Kerrville Folk Festival this year. He was like family and never knew a stranger. He had had a full and wonderful life as a sailor, a pilot and was taking piano lessons. We will miss his humor and his kindness and his never-ending support of his wife and me in the arts. Not only am I saddened by this loss but now I realize that I am growing into the age bracket where these things are going to happen and I will lose some of those near and dear. Damn, another one of those hard realities of aging.
This has so brought home the message to me to take every day as a precious one and let your friends know how much you value them.