We Are Family

It’s been a very emotional weekend for me. My friend, Mike Crawley, was an incredible human being who impacted his world in a big way. I know he would have been proud of the fact that so many people showed up to celebrate his life both at the Medical Center memorial service yesterday and the memorial service held today in Reynolds.

I am proud of his accomplishments in life and very sad to even think about the fact that he won’t be around anymore. Life can be tough. And for those who knew him well, this has been a very tough week.

But in the midst of the heartache, it was very comforting today seeing so many people I haven’t seen in a long time. These are people I grew up with and who are home folks and like family to me. It was like a homecoming.

I saw and spent some time with my old next door neighbor Marsha. Marsha and I spent hour upon hour shooting basketballs on her old wooden goal in her backyard when we were kids. We both went on to play high school basketball and held our own with whoever we played against. I’m not sure how many times I hugged and kissed her on the cheek today but I can tell you it was several. We have so many memories we share and will be friends until the day we die.

Scott and Holly also showed up today. Scott was a couple of grades ahead of me in school but we were like brothers. Scott used to go on vacations with us in the summer and there is no telling how many nights he spent the night at our house as we grew up. There is just not that many people I know in life who I think more of than Scott. He started dating his wife, Holly, when he was in high school and I have known her for close to 40 years. They are very special folks to me and it was good to see them.

My old friend Michael was there. Michael was a couple or three grades below me but has always been like a brother to me. And there was Billy and Chuck and Jimmy. We were all in the same class and have been close friends since we were in kindergarten and we remain friends today. I got to visit with Cal and Donna. Cal and I have been friends all our lives and our wives were classmates. I sat for a few minutes and visited with D.W. and Susan and I hugged on Claudia and visited with my good friend and her brother Bucky. These are people who mean a whole lot to me.

There were many more and I’m sure I will think of those after I publish this. But that doesn’t matter nor is that the point. I know I have mentioned it many times on this site but there is something special about lifelong friends from my hometown of Reynolds.

We gathered together today to honor and remember our friend Mike Crawley and to be there for the Crawley family.

The truth is we all are family.

And I was reminded of that in a real way again today.