This post is dedicated to the memory of one of my best friends, if not my best friend. He left the world over 3 years ago, and I still think about him almost daily. Billy (above with my oldest son) and I became friends at CEU (College of Eastern Utah). We had choir together. He was fun and funny to hang around. After we both graduated we kept in contact. He would come to Grand Junction, Co. to hang out with me and my roommate. We would always have a laugh and spend hours talking about what we wanted from life. Billy had lots of issues that he was working through, and I was his sanity point. The thing I never told him was that he was mine more than he ever knew.I will never forget the day I found out. We had missed a call the night before from Billy. We hadn't noticed until the next day on caller I.D. I almost ALWAYS called him back to see what was up and try to get him to come and stay at our house in Orem. My wife was good friend with him too. He would show up and stay for a few days and then head out again. We figured he was calling to let us know he wanted to come and stay. That morning I got a call from my sister. She wanted to know if I was okay. I was confused. She said something about, well I was worried about you when I found out Billy was dead. I nearly fell down. I remember it perfectly. I was out in our garden in Orem watering the plants. It was a cool summer morning and I was excited for the day. When she said that I freaked out. My wife came outside to see what the matter was. I told her that Billy was dead. She cried and I was too shocked to even move. That was a long week. My wife had lost her Grandpa unexpectedly the same week. Both funerals were for the same day and I had committed to sing a song at her grandfather's funeral. Nichole's husband came to the rescue. He drove me to Billy's funeral right after I sang. That was very generous of him, and I still admire and appreciate him for the act of service.
Billy was such a great friend. We had some fun times together. My favorite is when we were in a CEU van driving down a main street in Orem. We had stopped at a stop light and were talking. We looked up and noticed that there were two pieces of trellis in the road ahead. We looked at each other and knew what we were going to do. Billy slowed down the van and I opened the door and leaned over and grabbed the trellis. We still have it in our shed. I cut my forehead open getting it in the car. Man we laughed and laughed. What a great memory.
Maybe later I will go into how he died and my feelings around that as well. This is a reminder to make sure you let your true friends know how much you love and appreciate them. Thanks for listening!
