I've had this post wandering around my brain for the past week and am still not sure just what is going to come out of my fingers as I type.
Last week I played host for an evening to the mother and sister of a friend of mine from high school. Michael died nearly 2 years ago when he was hit by a car trying to help a cat in the road that had been injured. His mother isn't sure if Michael may have hit the cat and stopped or if he just saw it, but it was his nature to stop and try to help. She said that no one who knew him was surprised by his actions. He stopped the car, pulled over to the side of the road and turned on his flashers and got out, with a big flashlight. But a car saw the flashers and changed lanes, but did not see Michael and hit him. His mother told us last week that if he did not die on impact, then he was in shock enough that he did not feel pain or suffer. It's so strange to think of that as a "blessing".
I received a note about a month ago from Michael's mother saying they would be in town last weekend and would like to get together with any friends of his still in the area, so I put the word out and a few friends were able to make it to my house that evening. His mother was visiting places where they had previously lived - they now live in Colorado - and where she had happy memories of her son as a means of trying to cope with his death. I can't imagine how you ever cope with the loss of a child, but I hope that this visit with his friends was able to help her in some small way.
All we did was sit in my living room and talk and reminisce about about our high school years with Michael, but it was so nice to hear stories about what he was like as an adult. I had no idea he'd been married and divorced. I knew he played lead guitar in a band, but never realized the following the had. His mother gave me a CD of songs he had written. I haven't listened to it yet. But I will.
Before he died, Michael had been seriously considering traveling back across the country with another friend to "crash" our high school reunion (he graduated a year before I and this other friend did). But he never had that chance. We raised our glasses at that reunion to our dear old friend and we raised glasses again last Saturday night.
I will never have children to remember me when I am gone one day, but I hope I am fortunate and blessed enough to have some friends out there in the world who will think as highly of me as everyone who knew Michael thinks of him. I am sad that I never got to know the man he was, but I will always smile when I remember the boy that I knew.
There is only one picture that I know of of the two of us together, but I think it's one of the best pictures there could possibly be. So as we approach the 2nd anniversary of his passing this coming September, I will say a little prayer for my friend that he is at peace and that his family will continue to find their peace as well.
Last week I played host for an evening to the mother and sister of a friend of mine from high school. Michael died nearly 2 years ago when he was hit by a car trying to help a cat in the road that had been injured. His mother isn't sure if Michael may have hit the cat and stopped or if he just saw it, but it was his nature to stop and try to help. She said that no one who knew him was surprised by his actions. He stopped the car, pulled over to the side of the road and turned on his flashers and got out, with a big flashlight. But a car saw the flashers and changed lanes, but did not see Michael and hit him. His mother told us last week that if he did not die on impact, then he was in shock enough that he did not feel pain or suffer. It's so strange to think of that as a "blessing".
I received a note about a month ago from Michael's mother saying they would be in town last weekend and would like to get together with any friends of his still in the area, so I put the word out and a few friends were able to make it to my house that evening. His mother was visiting places where they had previously lived - they now live in Colorado - and where she had happy memories of her son as a means of trying to cope with his death. I can't imagine how you ever cope with the loss of a child, but I hope that this visit with his friends was able to help her in some small way.
All we did was sit in my living room and talk and reminisce about about our high school years with Michael, but it was so nice to hear stories about what he was like as an adult. I had no idea he'd been married and divorced. I knew he played lead guitar in a band, but never realized the following the had. His mother gave me a CD of songs he had written. I haven't listened to it yet. But I will.
Before he died, Michael had been seriously considering traveling back across the country with another friend to "crash" our high school reunion (he graduated a year before I and this other friend did). But he never had that chance. We raised our glasses at that reunion to our dear old friend and we raised glasses again last Saturday night.
I will never have children to remember me when I am gone one day, but I hope I am fortunate and blessed enough to have some friends out there in the world who will think as highly of me as everyone who knew Michael thinks of him. I am sad that I never got to know the man he was, but I will always smile when I remember the boy that I knew.
There is only one picture that I know of of the two of us together, but I think it's one of the best pictures there could possibly be. So as we approach the 2nd anniversary of his passing this coming September, I will say a little prayer for my friend that he is at peace and that his family will continue to find their peace as well.
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| Circa summer 1988 at a church youth group Bible study. |
2 comments:
What a great post and tribute to your friend. Love that pic.
Great tribute! I'm glad you were able to do this for his mother, too. I'm sure it meant a lot to her.
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