Today was one of the most difficult of my life

I got back a little while ago from the service for my friend, Bob. In addition to having a great sense of humor, Bob was one of the most extraordinary gentle men I have ever known. I seperated those words for a reason. Bob was a gentle man. I remembered how we would hang out in his garage doing guy stuff--working on cars, bikes, whatever. Ok, it was mostly him working on his car and bike, and I provided comic relief because my mechanical knowledge would barely fill an index card, while Bob could do almost anything. What he couldn't do, he would teach himself to do.

During these work sessions, chipmunks would come into the garage, and go up to Bob. He would tell them to hold on a minute, and he then give them a peanut from the stash he kept in the garage. This was done like it was the most normal thing in the world.

But what really struck me today was the fragile nature of our existence. Bob was a powerful man. He was 6'5" and strong and healthy. When we were younger, he was a really good athlete, and could have been a jock if he wanted to. He did all the crazy stuff young men do. He was a biker all his life, and he may have occasionally played fast and loose with speed limits. Ok, on more than one occasion, police showed up at his home and told him, "Look we know it was you," referring to reports of a bike racing through his hometown at speeds that were in triple digits. Considering that he was the only one in town with a street legal racing bike, they really didn't have to think too much to figure out who it was.

But all it took to end the life of this strong man was the flu. I'm sure, wherever Bob is, he is laughing his ass off about that.