sometimes, things suck.

so i found out last week that a dear friend of mine has a brain tumor, cancer of the esophagus, and the lymph nodes. after removing what they could of the brain tumor, his prognosis isn't good. he's only 47 years old. he's also one of the most giving people i have ever known.

he's been to hell and back after his wife of 23 years left him for some guy she met online, the murder of his daughter at the age of 22, who's husband then shot himself, of course, and being left to explain to his then 18 month granddaughter why daddy hurt mommy, and why mommy and daddy aren't coming home.

through it all there have been tears and laughter, and a whole lot of love. he knows how to live life, that's for sure. i've had so much fun with him over the last couple of years, and i'll miss that. i'll miss him.

for the next however long it is that he's alive, i intend to spend as much time with him as he'll allow. i love him, he's my friend, but i never knew how much so until this. when i saw him just a week before he was diagnosed we chatted for hours. we hadn't seen in each other in months, but it was as if only a day had passed. we got right to the ribbing, the joking, the laughing, and the tears (we always seem to have some of those at some point). there's something so comfortable in a friendship like that, and they're hard to come by, so i'll be cherishing it all, the past, the present, and the future.

it's gonna be so weird without him. i'll probably never be the same when it's all said and done but until that time, i plan on telling him everytime i see him how much he means to me, to my kids, to everyone who knows him really.

love you, Denny.