For Jeff...And That Million-Dollar Smile

There's an old joke that goes something like this--When you're a young man, you read the business section of the newspaper, to see how your finances are doing. When you're an old man, you read the obituaries, to see if your friends are still around.

This week, I felt old.

For many of us, we no longer read newspapers--we get our news other ways...Facebook, for example. Thursday night, after finishing up my blog post and posting my daily picture, I spotted a post, a post from someone I've never met. She broke the news that her husband past away the day before. It wasn't Covid or an accident that took him from her, but a heart attack.

The man was someone I've known for decades, a man who, at one time, I counted as a friend, and I suppose I still do, even though we haven't seen each other since our graduation from high school in the mid-1980s...a man who left us all too soon.

As it is with many of the people with whom I attended school, we re-connected via Facebook. I believe a few years ago he reached out to me and we became Facebook friends. He wasn't an avid contributor (or, maybe he was an his and my algorithms didn't line up...), but I saw his posts every now and then. There was one thing, however, that I always noticed--that huge smile. It's in every picture. I know posts and pictures can mask reality--we seem to want to only show our "good" side--but with Jeff, the authenticity exudes from those photographs. And scrolling through his Facebook timelines since his passing, Jeff's happiness and love of life not only came across in the pictures, but was verified by his many friends and loved ones.

It made me wish we could have chatted in person before this past week.

Jeff grew up a few neighborhoods over, next the the cemetery. I may have gone into his house once (memories begin to fade after years and years...). I know his birthday is on July 4th, which, I always thought was cool. Imagine, sharing the birthday with a country and the whole nation celebrating with you every year. I looked at my old elementary school photos. He and I shared a class. I remember him being a stud athlete, too. 

As those of us from Farmington who lived in a time when you could get into Lagoon for free as local residents or could eat at the Tom Boy Cafe continue on our own personal journeys, we'll see others journeys come to an end. Of course, it's not suppose to happen now--maybe in twenty or thirty years. Unfortunately, life doesn't work like that. The greatnesses of life can be offset by the injustices...opposition in all things. Jeff's family is hurting, and all the more so because a man in his mid-50s isn't supposed to leave so soon.

The news floored me, even though we weren't close right now. Seeing childhood friends pass away reminds us of our own mortality--at least, it does for me. Since we don't know the future, we venture forth in faith hoping for the best. I'm sad that Jeff's gone. I pray for his family and friends, and hope they find comfort in their knowledge and memories of a man who loved life--you could see it in that million-dollar smile.