Friday Face: John -In memory of a friend

Walking in the park, pretty much every day as I do, I have met many people. Some I know by face only. Others I know well enough to call by name, and we'll stop for brief conversations when we meet on the trail. And then there's a third group, usually dog walkers, that I have come to know and always look forward to seeing. Over the months and even years, we have had many conversations. We know each others' names, and if dogs are in the mix, we probably learned the names of the dogs before the names of their humans. We always take time to stop long enough to catch up on the latest news and share a little laughter (and for the dogs, a few sniffs and a scratch behind the ears). I may never see these people outside the boundaries of the park, but I look forward to meeting them on my daily walks, and I consider them friends.

John was one of these friends. Meeting up with John and his two little buddies Chester and Charlie, never failed to brighten my day. So it was with great sorrow that I learned recently that John had not survived a sudden heart attack. There will be no more conversations. No more chuckling over the antics of Chester and Charlie. No more opportunities to see the three of them coming down the trail. What remains is a sense of loss, a sorrow that something important, someone important, is no longer a part of this particular little community of park people. But there are still the memories to make us smile. I may never be able to walk by a park bench without picturing John instructing Chester and Charlie to sit there, while he reaches into his pocket for their little jar of treats. Those little bundles of fur had John's number, and they all knew it! It always made me smile. In their time in the park, the walks they shared, these three created many memories and left behind a legacy of laughter and a reminder to treasure the special people we call friends.

Thank you, John. We miss you.


It seems appropriate that my friend John should be the Friday Face for today, so today's blip is a picture on my computer screen of the blip I posted in November 2013. Two earlier blips of Chester and Charlie can be seen here: Nov. 2010 and here: February 2012.