Old Friend's Memorial Service

Yesterday, I drove down to San Diego for the memorial service of an old friend I had not seen in about 40 years.

I heard stories of his life in California, a mere 100 miles form my home, that was all new to me.

From what his intimate circle shared, Barry was no longer frozen for me in the blurry images of a group of us rushing to listen to the new Beatles or Allman Brothers albums as soon as they were being released. Now the 20 year old I remember is morphed into the mature and loving man.

I met him because he was the older brother of my first girlfriend from my wilder days in pre-med at McGill in Montreal in the late 60s and early 70s.

Really, I went to reconnect with former love, Bev and her sister Debbie and her husband Peter. 

Though the circumstances were tragic, the meeting was sweet. We did the typical stuff, sharing pictures of our families, and tripping back to some pretty great memories of concerts from that classic rock era. 40 years absence makes for a flood plain of water under the bridge.

Barry's quick demise from cancer, and my own circumstances scream that we never know how much sand is left in our hourglass.

Do not wait to heal old wounds or to forge new or old connections.

Call or email your estranged parents or sibling or old pals. Make the effort. Life is short, but it can be sweet. I will stay in contact with Bev and Deb and will likely meet their families. It will be good.

Barry, I am sorry I waited too long to reconnect with you.