Due to a technical issues, I’m reposting this from Thanksgiving.

One of the less enjoyable aspects of getting older is losing friends and acquaintances along the way. It’s one thing to lose a friend who is several years older than I am, but it’s not a pleasant thing.

It’s more disheartening to lose a friend my age or younger. I mourn each passing while at the same time feeling blessed to still be around to see my kids do well and my grandkids aggravate their parents.

Yesterday I received word that a younger acquaintance died suddenly from a Pulmonary Embolism. He was what I would characterize as a friendly acquaintance that I’d see here and there at various conferences. He was however a close friend of a close friend

It seems that every year at about this time another person leaves us and heads for that undiscovered country from which no traveler ever returns.

That’s the nature of life, I guess.

So, to all my friends who have departed, thank you for your friendship, conversations, and assistance on a wide variety of issues over the years.

It’s good to have friends, but it’s always with the knowledge that everything ends sooner or later. Except the memories of times good and bad shared with those who are close.