A Friend Goes Home

Shortly after posting my last I went online to Facebook to tell all my friends about the new stuff that I had posted. I rarely check Facebook and only use it to tell people about Max. But technology can be a good thing when friends drift apart and life takes you on different paths.

I sadly discovered that a friend of mine from Junior High, just lost her father yesterday to a sudden heart attack.  Ron was like a father to me during a really difficult period of my life. I have so many fond memories of him that I hardly know where to begin. I think I spent more time at Ron and Jeri's house then I did at my own. I was always welcome and made to feel like family. I was even there when their real family came for visits.

Ron even came to rescue me once in Florida one summer. Then, let me stay with them until I could get back home to California. They had moved to Florida shortly after discovering that Ron had Scleroderma to help ease the pain of the cold winters in Lake Tahoe. I remember the doctors not giving Ron a very good prognosis for survival when I was about 12. Boy, did he sure prove them wrong! Everyday was a blessing.

My mom and I even drove one year to Michigan to see them. They moved back home to be closer to both Ron and Jerilyn's family, after being told again that Ron's condition had worsened. It is amazing how a person can start in one place and travel the country meeting people and changing lives along the way. We had a great visit and I left hoping it wouldn't be the last time we would see each other. Sadly, it would be. That was over 16 years ago and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about Ron and Jeri and how they helped an awkward pre-teen how to understand life and her place in it.

Ron leaves behind a wonderful wife and best friend in Jerilyn, daughter Rebecca, two grandchildren and lots of family and friends. They were one of the only couples that I know that was truly, happily married and would be celebrating their 41st wedding anniversary on Max's Birthday, August 14th. Please mark that day on your calenders and remember to tell the person that you love, how much they mean to you. Life is to short for missed opportunities!

Thanks Ronald, I am sorry I never got to tell you how much you meant to me. I love you. You will be missed. Have a safe trip home.