It was disconcerting to learn of the passing of a childhood friend. Perhaps you are wondering at my use of the term disconcerting rather than saying I was saddened.
Well there was some sadness too, but the fact of the matter is that the two of us had not communicated with each other for some thirty years. I had moved away from my home town and the relationship faded.
Undoubtedly we said we would keep in touch - and undoubtedly we didn't.
So where does disconcerting come in?
News of my friend's passing got me to thinking about my career as a pall bearer. At least it seemed like a career to me back in my teens. I hit my teenage years just at the time that grandparents, great grandparents, great aunts, uncles and other relatives were passing with startling regularity. Being a sturdily built young man, I was routinely volunteered as a pall bearer.
Escorting the recently departed seemed such a normal part of my life that I was actually surprised when I realized one day that my services had not been required for two consecutive years.
Now thoughts of funerals and memorial services return and it is disconcerting to think these events now apply to people my own age. People who, as kids, viewed life as an endless journey.
It is disconcerting to think that one of those kids has now reached the end of the ride. Not because of some freak accident, but simply because the journey is over.
It leaves me wondering if I should be preparing for more of the same kind of news. Will the passing of friends past and present become as regular as the passing of those I once considered to be old?
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