A Friend Gone

Many years ago I was involved with Youth for Christ as a teenager. I made some terrific friends. There were three (and occasionally four) of us who palled around together A LOT.  We shared stories, heartbreak, triumphs, and our souls.  After I joined the Air Force, we kind of drifted apart. The first couple of years we tried to get together whenever I was home on leave, but we were building separate lives.

Last year I retired from the Air Force and I was asked to gather some pictures of my life for a slideshow. Most of the images I have around the house are from when my wife and I got married to present day. But I was able to find an old album of pictures taken at a youth retreat in the Montana Rockies we attended when we were in high school. The awesome memories of the times we spent together came flooding back.  While these friends of mine were never very far from my mind, seeing the old images brought many great memories flooding back.

When I signed up for Facebook late last year I decided to do a little searching to see if I could link up with any of my old friends from my youth group. I was able to get in contact with one. But I couldn’t find my closest friend of the bunch. His name was not unusual so when I did the facebook search I’d get hundreds of returns. Finally I decided to ask the person I had made contact with if he was still in contact with our mutual friend. Tonight I got a response. My friend had died of a heart attack a couple of years ago. He didn’t write much about DJs passing and I have asked him to provide a few more details if he was willing.

I write this not so you can provide me with condolences. I write this to tell you that if you have a friend from your past that you have thought about over the years, now would be a good time to reach out to them. DJ and I were tight for a few years and we let life and distance get in the way of maintaining our friendship. If you have a friend that you have lost contact (an old fishing buddy for example) with, reach out to them. There are so many memories and life experiences that I wanted to share with DJ and now I cannot do that. So don’t pass up a chance to get back in touch.