I'll Miss You Dearly, My Brotha

(Ray is the guy in the back right)

Last Saturday, a childhood/high-school/college friend of mine passed. I haven't been all that close to him in years ... mainly because he unfortunately ... let's just say, he took a different path. He also had moved to Ohio and lived there for over a decade. A few years ago, he came back to the area - I was excited to see him, hoping he'd changed. Unfortunately, his life had spiraled downward. I, along with other friends, tried to help him out, but he continually went back to the "bad things."

I had tried to distance myself from him when my wife got pregnant. Truthfully, I was a little scared of him at this point, but also, I think I may have been burned out from trying to help him. Some of my other friends backed off a bit too - we had begged him to get help. Unfortunately, he never really wanted to. My one friend, a devout religious person, worked very hard to bring him around, and I think things were starting to turn for the better.

Sadly, my friend never was fully able to make the turn. A bunch of us got together, and reminisced, even going through high school notebooks that his dad gave us (Our friend used to do top-10 lists every day, along with other funny writings). It was very therapeutic to laugh, cry, and remember just how good of a person he really was.

I'll miss ya, Ray. I hope you've finally found your peace.