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Friendship

Amid all the changes the world has undergone in recent years

The simple act of making friends remains the same.

You meet someone

you like them

they like you

and a friendship emerges.

How durable the friendship

takes time to determine

as does the friendship’s strength

but its character

depends on the stuff the friends are made of,

likewise the sincerity of the commitment

the dependability when times are hard

the willingness to forgive

and the graciousness to forget

but, most of all, the goodness of heart.

***

When death ends a friendship

and the friend was pure of heart

the loss is all the more profound

as measured by the response of the persons’ friends

to the news of his/her passing.

The emptiness left behind

is emptier.

Those whose presence was substantial

leave behind a void that is immeasurable,

made all the more distinguished

by their remarkable nature.

***

The stories shared about them afterward

are remarkable too

and are imbued with the grandness of spirit

that defined them.

***

We are made greater in spirit

from having known them:

We do not forget them

for they were exceptional.

***

Many of us lost a great friend today.

He was all the things that define an outstanding person–

he was kind, he was patient, he was funny

and he was genuine.

He will always live on in our hearts.

I feel grateful to have known him.

Sleep gently, my friend.

**

RIP Bill Hand

Tim Konrad

25 November 2015