Found out this morning that he had passed away last night. A complete shock. We hadn't seen each other in several years because he was in central Florida and I moved away to NC back in the 90's. Just fell out of touch, but he had called me out of the blue a few months ago and we had a great time talking about crazy times we had back in the day.

 And they were all kind of crazy. Lots of besotted revelry was involved, along with fishing, mud bogging, hitching cross country, Gator football games. Good times and lots of laughs. And now he's gone.

I post this more to sort out my feelings than anything else, because I don't know how I feel right now. That was so long ago and far away that it doesn't seem real just yet. I'm not maudlin about death. I accept it as part of a process that we all have to go through, and likely will do so many times again. But when someone you have shared a good portion of your life with is no longer around, it leaves an emptiness that needs to be acknowledged.

When we spoke recently we promised to get together soon and not let so much time go by. Now it's too late. I'll have to just raise a glass in his honor for old times sake. Damn.