Goodbye, old friend

This summer, I said goodbye to an old friend. We had been together for nine years; our relationship started just as I had finished college, on the brink of starting my career. We had some great times. We took trips to Rockford, multiple trips to St. Louis and Chicago, visited Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. He was at my wedding. My friend carried me through some tough times, witnessed some of my great triumphs, comforted me during sorrow, and protected me during some perilous situations.

Oh our relationship wasn’t perfect… we fought. Sometimes he was unresponsive. I yelled, I screamed, I sometimes kicked…but he was there and in his own quiet way I think he knew where my frustrations really lied.

He persevered through it all, and at the end of our journey, he showed some signs of age, but I liked to think of those as signs of wisdom. Thank you, Carl. Thank you for all that you gave me and for sharing part of life’s journey with me. May your next journey be as valuable for you as the last one was for me.

I was as proud of you when we said goodbye as I was when we first met. Goodbye, old friend.