People Come and People Go

We lose people, friends and enemies, throughout our lives. We pay little attention to the enemies that disappear from our lives except to appreciate they are gone but friends? Friends we miss. And we often wonder what happened to them, where they are, how they are doing. I know I do. Friends are important to us; we seek them, we treasure them, we desire them.

I envy those that have had life-long friends, just as I envy those who live all their lives in one town or city. I envy them because I have not experienced that. I have no roots (and friends are a part of roots), having moved often in my life. As a child, because where my parents went I had to go also. And, as an adult, I moved around because I wanted to. Clearly voluntary.

Along the way, I shed friends as well as enemies. I do not often miss the enemies, of course, but I dearly miss the friends. I did not mean to shed the friends, I just lost touch with them over time. They were all important to me but I lost touch nevertheless.

A few are friends I made while in the Navy, but more were not. Jay Brown was one, we were close throughout our 4 years there but we eventually lost touch after we got out.

A good friend I had as a child was Paul. I no longer recall his last name. We met because we both took up the saxophone at the same time and took lessons together at school. He was more willing to practice than I and I eventually dropped it. I never spoke to, or saw, him again after I moved to Florida in 1956.

And then there were the girlfriends:

Opal Petry, Sue Tourney, Carol, Candy Clark, Linda Karom (who eventually married Carter Cherry, a good friend I had in Orlando), Linda Lawrence, Beverly Cooper, Darlene Tillman, a few whose first names I do not even recall, Terry in Albuquerque, and several more. And a number I never dated but wanted to... I miss them all and wonder if they found happiness.


Don't we all miss old friends we no longer have contact with?