A quick nice story... On Tuesday I heard the doorbell ring. It was the postal carrier. I figured when I heard the mail scanner go off, it must be some letter from the HOA about some thing they didn't like about my property. I waited for carrier to leave and saw a box sitting on the porch. I wasn't expecting a package and it was somewhat heavy. The return address was from Jim's little sister...Jim was a friend of mine, a childhood mentor, who passed from cancer on 5/9/17.
Brought the box inside and opened it up with curiosity. Inside was what looked like a check box and a few sheets of paper and some bubble wrap. The letter was so powerful my wife couldn't get through it without stopping several times. It detailed memories from 40+ years ago when we grew up two houses over from her and thoughts about her brother and our relationship.
After my wife finally got through the letter, I was a mess and so was she. Only thing left was what was inside the box. The end of the letter gave it away. It was a white crystal rock that Jim had collected in, presumably, Colorado as that was his happy place. His sister said that we were both rocks to each other going through cancer and this rock was to remember what we were to each other as it represented something Jim thought was special. Heck, I'm almost crying now.
I called a buddy of mine who was responsible for all this. Jim's sister was forwarded a FB eulogy I did on Jim's life by her mother. My buddy had sent it to his grandmother and she sent it to Jim's mother where it made it to all their family members. I had to thank Bret for forwarding it on for without that, the letter never gets written and I don't have a rock I will cherish for the rest of my days sitting on the fireplace mantel. I just glanced over at it. It brings me joy but, man, I sure wish Jim was here in the way he used to.