I recently received word through a friend that the father of a mutual friend and former class mate had passed away. It gave me time to think about our friendship and about some other things as well. Brad, Greg and I were friends in high school. Even though we ran with different crowds in high school, the three of us would get together quite a bit. Our "thing" was to go out and get chinese food somewhere. Even now, if we were to make plans to get together, I'm sure it would involve meeting for dinner at a chinese restaurant somewhere and catching up.
The passing of Brad's father was unexpected and tragic. And even though I hadn't seen or talked to Brad in a while, I thought I should go and pay my respects. I was so glad that I did. Brad was having a very rough time dealing with the death of his father, and I could tell that it meant a lot to him to see a face of a friend. Someone who was there to pay condolences specifically to him. Brad repeated something to me a couple of times there...the day that Brad's father had the accident that resulted in his death, the two of them had gone to dinner at Bob Evans. The last thing Brad said to his father was "Thank you for buying my dinner." That, Brad told me, is what was helping him to get through this. Not that his dad had paid for dinner, or even that they'd gone to dinner. But the simple fact that the last words he spoke to his father were words of appreciation, not words of anger. Brad told me that he was so happy that he had not had an argument with his father right before this happened. So yesterday's life lesson came from an old friend. Appreciate those that mean the most to you, and show them that appreciation. Sure we're going to have disagreements, but in the end, make sure the people you love and appreciate know it.
It's very rare that you will ever know when the next time you speak to someone may very well be the last time you have that opportunity.
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