I lost four friends in six months

The Internet is a wonderful tool of discovery and research.  It can also lead to some sad findings. Yesterday I was searching for an old friend to try and reconnect only to discover he had passed away in California.

In fact, within the time span of six months I lost four very close friends.  Del Threadgill, Jud Griffin, Paul Miller and Larry Corby. All good buds and all gone.

In the course of six months life changes drastically.  A phone call from a son.  A note form an old friend. A middle-of-the-night text from a business associate. And a lone search on the web.  And they all lead me to the same bit of information. A part of my past has been buried in Mother Earth. Gone, but certainly not forgotten.

Each of these guys held a special bond with me.  Each was part of my life at an important and defining time. Threadgill, Griffin and I grew up together in East Texas under the oil derricks of Kilgore. We attended UT at various times together and they were in my first wedding. We had a bond that went way, way back. The “Threader” and I were even roommates for a while in Austin.

I learned to play the guitar on Griffin’s Silverstone archtop. Also had my first beer with him.  We had a lot of firsts together, I jut can’t remember them all. Same is true with Delmar Ray.

Miller lived with me for a year in Austin and became one of the packrats, as we called ourselves. He and I would get close, then drift apart and then get close again.  Distance would always separate us and suddenly something in life would lead us back together. We were working on a movie-book deal when his life was taken away on a CA highway.

And Corby was one of those people who came along later in life; who inspired me, made me laugh, made me cry and made we want to do new things every day. I propped him up during his divorce and we turned around and offered me the same comfort and strength during mine. My job, my career, my neglect separated us.  The miles and the years between us lead me to wonder what he was up to.  A Google search brought me to tears.  Larry, like the other three musketeers from my life, was  gone.  And it all happened in a six-month period of time.

So my advice to you: reach out and connect with your old friends.  They are precious.  And you’ll never know when they might not be on that other end of the line when next you call. 

Life is that unsure and that perplexing.