Absent Friends

   Dear Sons,

   You may find in your lifetimes missing old friendships and people that used to be in your lives. Maybe it was because of work, school, community or a sweet happenstance that allowed the time for gathering.  Transitions occur and now you feel their absence.  Perhaps you miss the laughter or the inspiration. Was it a pillar so strong and dependable but when removed, the state of things and the world seemed upside down?Or a wacky election that revealed a Pandora's box of ugly truths...

    But know this.Gone in one sense but never gone, because it (friendships),  and they (friends) are always part of your existence and experience. They are the information in your text, and you may reconnect yet. Just keep on constructing your pages.  Be thankful for the shared memories, the alchemy of the union.

    It's always worthwhile to laugh at goofball jokes that are born from cherished interactions.  In this spirit, I am as inspired by the wonderful people that have been in my life, and I am certain that you will be too.  They don't have to be there to be there.  It's more important that once they were, and you were present to fulfill these opportunities of eternal time. Of these moments as you experience them, be the best and give the most of you that you can.  Then the memories are strengths, not regrets.

     This relates; Leonard Nimoy's last tweet: " A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP"

       And also if you have a bag of donuts, do remember to place them far above from where the dog can reach them. Twenty years from now, you may recall those jelly donuts from tomorrow morning.