Originally Posted by
thieuster
Last week, my best mate passed away at the age of nearly 64 yrs. What started as being neighbours more than 30 yrs ago, slowly turned into a friendship that has lasted more than half my life. Last Tuesday, this came to an end. He passed away.
Early 2018 he went to his GP for some minor(...) problems. And within a few hours, he was in hospital, diagnosed with pancreas cancer. After this blow, he fought back and managed to overcome all sorts of 'hiccups' (his words) like chemo etc. He went into the hospital with a perfect physical condition and that was one of the main reasons, according to his doctors, that he recovered so quickly. Things looked better and we had fun making plans for his retirement. For him, that was working his garden, growing fruit and vegs, cycling, rowing, drinking a good glass of red wine and enjoying life, like he'd always done. But especially, he was about to enjoy the light of the day and the sun. He loved the sun. And we said: "We're going to be 90 one day and then we start thinking about 'what's next'!"
About ten days ago, he couldn't come out of bed. Suddenly, he was too tired. The day before he'd been on his bike for two hours. When he woke up, he told his wife that everything in his body was painful. And not something that he was used to after a long trip on his bike. His wife called the GP and when he came, he diagnosed severe pneumonia! Before the GP left, my friend went into a coma and passed away last Tuesday.
Today was his funeral. And of course, that was a sad and emotional thing. But there's something I want to share: I think that about 500 - 700 turned up at his funeral. The size of the crowd that came to his funeral swept me off my feet. His family had rented a restaurant on the grounds of an Estate for speeches and music. The Estate is a castle well-known to us as a 'watering hole' when my mate and I went cycling. The hall with the family and my friend's coffin, was far too small for the crowd. So we ended up in the garden of the estate. His funeral turned into a sunlit 'garden party with people in black' with the coffin in the centre of the garden. As if I stepped into a movie!
Given the fact that he loved the sun so much, it was the best thing that could happen on a day like this. In fact, I think that he would have signed on the dotted line at once, had he been given a contract that would take care of fine weather on his funeral. This was one of the most memorable afternoons ever.
His kids did a few speeches. One of them is one to remember: he had no bucket list. He had done what he wanted to do with his life. He had no loose ends and was totally happy. That's great. A great moment to review my own bucket list and how much I need that.
My mate loved a good glass of fine red wine. Despite the fact that you didn't know him I would ask you to take a glass on his behalf, as we did this afternoon. Raising a glass for a nice guy who enjoyed life. I'm sure he would be chuffed by the idea that you're reading this and even more chuffed when he would know that you all enjoy a glass.
Menno
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losing close friends is very painful. I've lost far to many. So pleased the sun shone for him and the masses turned up to show their respects.
