Friendship, Fatherhood and Love in a Family

I have been wanting to write something profound since I got a call from our best friend Marty yesterday morning telling us that he had just found out that his Dad had died unexpectedly. But it is hard to write profoundly. Sometimes it does not come until the heart warms up a little after such a shock. I have been thinking about this for the last 24 hours and comtemplating on friendship, fatherhood and love in a family.

Death of course if part of life. Although death is always sad, it seems to me that there are degrees of sadness that you can feel with death. The death of a young child seems devastating to all. The death of an old man is sad but somewhat more pallatible. The death of a young mom who leaves children behind in heart wrenching.

So when I think of Tom's death, I am sad...sad for his family that he leaves behind, sad for his friends who will miss him and sad for the people who never got a chance to know a man who was so kind.

I also have a sense of happiness and gratitude.
* Happy that this was a man that any family could be proud to call Dad
* Appreciative that this man raised such wonderful children and that his success in his raising his family has touched my family making it richer and better.
* Happy to have seen unconditional love that has carried Tom and Phyllis thru so many years of marriage
* Appreciative that his being on this earth made it a better place for all that who knew him

Tom was a kind, gentle man that I wished I knew better. But thru his legacy, he leaves me his greatest accomplishment --- the love and committement of a great friend, a kind and gentle man in his own right, who no doubt learned it from his father --- his son and my friend, Marty - a living testament to the great father he had.

Our love is with Marty, Tina and their family.