In Honor of My Friend

My friend Glenn would have turned 34 today. He passed away over four years ago, and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about him. I miss being able to talk politics (he was far more conservative than I), transportation (he knew everything about everything), and ministry (he had the biggest heart of anyone I ever knew). I miss our weekly prayer times, when I could fess up about ways I'd messed up or needed help, and he could do the same. I miss growing older, becoming a dad, advancing in my career, and not being able to do it all that with him.

I feel fortunate to have a lot of good guy friends in my life. I don't take any of them for granted, nor do I take for granted my need for their presence in my life. And, on one level, I feel fuller for having known Glenn, even if for too short. But I do miss the guy, as I know others do whose lives he touched. He lives on in the lives of those of us who gained from having known him; but he himself is not here. And I feel that all the more on days like today.