Saying Good Bye . . .

So this last week has been INSANE!  There has been SO much going on in one week, it actually feels like a YEAR!  But I figured I'd write about them one at a time.  Maybe it'll help me process it better.

For one thing, a family friend passed away.  He has actually been battling Alzheimer's for 8 years, but he lost his courageous battle last week.  (And I just teared up as I wrote that sentence).  To say he's a family friend, really does him a disservice.  He was FAMILY.  You know how you have some FRIENDS that you are closer to than FAMILY?  That's him. That's his family.  I honestly don't remember when they weren't in our lives.  We've been on NUMEROUS vacations together and spent a week every summer at the lake.  My parents, Lonnie (the friend that died) and Karen, and Tommy and Jennifer went out EVERY. SINGLE. SATURDAY. NIGHT, up until a few years ago.  They're close.  

He's been going downhill, so we knew it was coming.  And actually, he left a long time ago.  But it was still hard.  I still cried like a baby when I found out.  I cried at the visitation.  I cried at the funeral.  I'm crying now as I write this.  It's never easy to lose someone, but when it's someone that's tied to SO MANY of your childhood memories, it's even harder.  And I feel sorry for my Dad.  Because he lost a good friend.  Someone he loved very much.  And unfortunately, because of his age, this is going to start happening more and more.  And that breaks my heart.  I don't want to see him hurt.  I don't want to see him go through it.  And of course, it reminds me that MY PARENTS are getting older as well.  And you know what THAT means.  NOW you see why I've been crying?!  

But Lonnie was a GREAT man.  He had the biggest laugh of anyone you'd ever met.  He would start laughing, and then YOU'D start laughing, because you were laughing at HIM!  And he had a big heart.  He REALLY cared about people.  He loved his family.  He loved his grandkids.  He loved his friends.  He loved us all.  And we were very lucky to have had him in our lives.  And I guess THAT'S what I need to focus on.  THAT'S what I need to remind myself.  THAT'S what I need to remember.