Goodbye to a friend
I was sitting in a meeting on Friday, opening my email for the first time of the day, expecting the normal to-do's that come from various areas during the night. A single email instantly struck my view, which made me immediately suspicious, as it was labeled strangely. I recognized the email address from a friend, but the subject showed that the message was from his wife. My thoughts began to churn, and as I remembered, I also became apprehensive. I recalled that John (my friend) recently told me he had to be treated for a medical condition, and that the treatment took on several phases. I opened the email to find that my wildly running thoughts had been confirmed. A dear friend of mine had passed away. I struggled not to simply pack my things together and leave the meeting, as I was on the agenda later in the morning. I stayed, however I almost heard (literally) nothing that was being said in the meeting, and certainly could not concentrate. Memories of John throughout the years flashed through my head, making me smile.
This news simply floored me, as John was not the kind of person you could ever think of passing away. He was a full of life kind of guy, always willing to help, always had interesting stories and information, and simply enjoyed being alive. John was British, but retired in Florida to one of those very nice upscale retirement communities. We visited John and his wife some years ago and found that they really had a very nice retirement. However, John and his wife were not the typical Florida retirees in that they golfed daily or had public exercise classes. Being British they were much more interested in the world as a whole. As traveling was part of John's job before retirement, they continued to travel after John finished work. It was cruises, back home to the UK for a few weeks, a stint down to the south of France, or perhaps some other exotic or posh trip. In a sense I guess I envied John a bit as he really seemed to be doing what many people plan for their retirement, but never really achieve.
John was interesting to me for a number of reasons, but one that particularly struck me were his stories of doing business in the era of the cold war in Europe. Those of us that have a personal connection to the cold war era due to personal circumstance, direct involvement or having lived through it, will understand. With obstacles like the Berlin Wall, strict borders to Czechoslovakia, Poland and Bulgaria, doing business with these countries was not easy. It always included a sense of the covert as things were not always as open as today. But John, being ever resourceful did not find this to be a great obstacle and did well. I always enjoyed listening to him when he told of trips to these countries and his experiences.
In recent years I also enjoyed receiving almost daily e-mails from John, as he was an avid reader, and really enjoyed the access that the internet gave him.
John and his wife and my family also had another sort of connection. Coincidentally both John and his wife were at the same restaurant and guests at the same mutual friend's house when my wife went into labor with our first two children, 20 years ago tomorrow. The running joke after that was that we could only have kids when John was around.
I will miss John.
This news simply floored me, as John was not the kind of person you could ever think of passing away. He was a full of life kind of guy, always willing to help, always had interesting stories and information, and simply enjoyed being alive. John was British, but retired in Florida to one of those very nice upscale retirement communities. We visited John and his wife some years ago and found that they really had a very nice retirement. However, John and his wife were not the typical Florida retirees in that they golfed daily or had public exercise classes. Being British they were much more interested in the world as a whole. As traveling was part of John's job before retirement, they continued to travel after John finished work. It was cruises, back home to the UK for a few weeks, a stint down to the south of France, or perhaps some other exotic or posh trip. In a sense I guess I envied John a bit as he really seemed to be doing what many people plan for their retirement, but never really achieve.
John was interesting to me for a number of reasons, but one that particularly struck me were his stories of doing business in the era of the cold war in Europe. Those of us that have a personal connection to the cold war era due to personal circumstance, direct involvement or having lived through it, will understand. With obstacles like the Berlin Wall, strict borders to Czechoslovakia, Poland and Bulgaria, doing business with these countries was not easy. It always included a sense of the covert as things were not always as open as today. But John, being ever resourceful did not find this to be a great obstacle and did well. I always enjoyed listening to him when he told of trips to these countries and his experiences.
In recent years I also enjoyed receiving almost daily e-mails from John, as he was an avid reader, and really enjoyed the access that the internet gave him.
John and his wife and my family also had another sort of connection. Coincidentally both John and his wife were at the same restaurant and guests at the same mutual friend's house when my wife went into labor with our first two children, 20 years ago tomorrow. The running joke after that was that we could only have kids when John was around.
I will miss John.
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