Saying Goodbye is Hard
April 22, 2023
Today I said my final goodbye to a dear friend on his deathbed. It was hard. We got the news on the drive back home from the hospital that my friend had passed. Let me tell you why it was hard.
My friend is ‘Picasso’ (my nickname for him as he was an artist). He was one of the funniest and liveliest people I ever met. He liked to smile and he liked to laugh. He liked to tell jokes and share a laugh with everyone around him. I smiled and laughed a lot with Picasso. He also liked to tell stories and most of them were very funny.
Picasso has done more types of jobs and worn more hats than I could ever dream of. He was a used car salesman, a bartender, a welder’s helper, an instrumentation specialist in the oilfield industry, a barber, a hair stylist, an author of a children’s book, an artist, a history teacher, a school administrator, a blacksmith, and a knife maker. Those are just the ones that I remember and I don’t believe that I remembered all of them.
Unfortunately, Picasso had a string of serious medical complications over many years. He had kidney disease and then kidney failure. He had been on dialysis for about 5 or 6 years. He also needed a new liver. Despite having rough days of dialysis and being in and out of the hospital many times, he always managed to maintain a positive outlook and still smile and make people laugh.
Picasso loved country music and often had it playing when I came over to visit. It was usually Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, or Hank Williams (Sr. or Jr.). Like Johnny Cash, he too was the man in black and for mostly the same reasons.
Picasso’s long and colorful journey was rapidly coming to a close. I knew that it was the last time I’d ever see him. I knew that I would no longer see his smile or hear his laugh. I knew that I would no longer be able to hang out with him and savor in the vibe that he exuded.
Life is short. Life is precious. Enjoy the moments. The happy ones always end too soon.