Hi.. This is talkback... And no, I'm not here to retort his clumsy excuse of a description of me previously (but I will admit I was perked about the part where he said "I know I can do right" and attributed that to my wise, wise offerings of exactly how to live life...
I come to you today because he's tugging at my pants leg... ready to burst about something... Saying "I learned something today... and I want to share so others don't make the same mistake."
My mind thinks: Hmmnnn... you, the one who's butchered up your life... the one who's house has suffered from your own neglect... the one whose son has got one wheel off the track and you are unable to synchronize him.. the "occupationally challenged" one... the one whose car is uncertain to make it to the next fillup.. (Ok, scratch that.. uncertain to make it to it's next $8 "fill up"...)
The one who sits frequently at the blackjack table that is sloped toward the dealer - where if you leggo of your chip - it automatically rolls into the house's stash..
YES ME DAMMIT. This is a recording: Screw you talkback. Today I can teach.
You see, today I balled my eyes out. Today I saw buddies I hadn't seen in 30 years - some of whom it took me a moment to even recognize.. Today a buddy was buried - a GOOD buddy.. a GREAT man..
My friend Bill died on the operating table July 31st at age 54. This guy was a high school classmate... a college fraternity brother... a close, close friend. Bill went on the teach/coach and become athletic director at a nearby community for 29 years...
He was a large man - in more ways than one... He wanted things done - and he wanted them done right. He was a linguist. He talked with his body motions. His eyes/mouth communicated without having to use words.. He propelled the weak to be good, the mediocre to achieve, and the very good to greatness.
He genuinely cared about others. Rare nowadays. I know someone with whom I talk on the phone - and after hanging up I think to myself "this person didn't ask one thing about me... doesn't know any more about me than before we started the conversation."
Not Bill. Bill's interest was ALWAYS in you. About you. For you. While he was a peer in age - I carried the respect of not wanting to disappoint him. He had that affect on thousands. The overflow crowd, after filling up the choir chairs, standing alongside and behind the congregation - spilled into the lobby where people sat in chairs to listen.
It was quite a tribute - and to such a deserving man. (Ok, Ok.. Very good.. and he does sound very admirable... but you still haven't gotten to the teaching point yet.)
Right you are this time talkback. I hadn't made the effort to go see Bill in a few years. Now I can't. Bill touched me. Bill and I had fun. Bill and I were, upon occasion, wild children. Now I can never (on earth) converse with Bill again.
If there is someone in your life who has touched you - whom you just enjoy being around - even if you haven't talked to them in years - pppppplease make a point to - now.
Honest to goodness I'm compiling a list. I have fodder for the future. I'm excited about contacting those that once shared our lives - again. Even in passing, Bill taught.
Bill, I wish I coulda toldya in person how much I liked you. I only wish you knew how much fun I had every time I heard that "HI VIC!"... I wish you only knew how much I appreciated you calling me a "half-stepper" when I knowingly had taken the wrong course on one of life's events.
In tribute to you my brother... the creed of our fraternity. You lived it to the inth: To believe in the live of love, to walk in the way of honor, to serve in the light of truth, this is the life, the light, the way of Sigma Nu.
Hi Rickety friend.
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