The loss of a friend

Good friends are rare in life and should be cherished and celebrated. A good friend is someone that you share your secrets with and someone you can trust. Someone who accepts you the way you are ,even your weaknesses. A good friend is always there when you need them, someone you can talk to and get sincere advice from. A good friend does not expect anything in return and is someone who would not betray you.
I lost a good friend this week. He died of complications from heart surgery. It was a tough year for him and his wife for they lost one of their daughters to cancer. The loss took it's toll. I wrote him a posthumous letter today and will share it now:
Dear Carroll
I heard you left recently without saying goodbye. I wish I had called you before your surgery. We will miss your charming humor and polictical diatribes. We were a great fishing team once, traveling up Mosquito Ridge road with anxious anticipation of that big trout on the end of our lines. The long narrow drive was always shortened and more enjoyable by listening to your stories of other days and your opinions about the traffic on Foresthill road. We drank some great wine together and enjoyed some great food cooked by your lovely bride Flora. We hope that Flora's faith and knowledge that your spirit will never leave her can somehow ease the pain of her loss. The memories of a lifetime of cherished love can never be lost. We share in Flora's sadness at this time and hope that she knows how much we care. Perhaps my feelings are best told by Kahlil Gibran in the Prophet where he writes: "When you part from your friend, you grieve not; For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain".
"When you have reached the top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance". I can see you dancing near that stream fishing for that big Rainbow and that is the way I will remember you always.
Goodbye my friend.