Mood: ‘Rise Above’ by Scott Buckley

An Absence For A Friend and A Balm For My Soul

Several months ago I lost a dear friend up in Alaska. I have mentioned this before in these blogs. Randy and I spent many years outside of the friendship with a theater company, mostly in Hallowe’en shows, but also in some Christmas ones, as well. The ‘thing’ about this years’ Hallowe’en show was that it was the second one he and I did together some 20 years ago, and I thought if I could get the time off from work I could take on his original role as a small homage to him. The director, also a dear friend, agreed if it could be. This was not to be, however, and so I decided a trip up to Alaska over the Hallowe’en ‘weekend’ would be needful.

Oh, it very much was!

It is hard to realize the best part (and worst part) of where you spent a good 40 years of your life are the friends you’ve got. I was able to spend a relatively inexpensive week there as I stayed with friends. Just as a year before I stayed with the friend I lost and who the trip was in honor of. In retrospect, what a blessing it was to get to spend that week with him. Even as I hope the friends i spent this last week with do not leave this plane of existence, we just never know, do we? So, just as with Randy, I left nothing unsaid, told them how grateful I was (and am) and that I love them.

Oh, but this trip was so Needed and so good for my soul! I spent almost every night of the Hallowe’en show with the theater company remembering Randy, even as they had dedicated the entire run of Hallowe’en shows to him and his memory. I even had the opportunity to get back up on that stage that I have missed since moving to the East Coast, and it was at that moment that I deeply felt Randy’s presence. I also visited most of the places we would go for pizza or other dishes, including his favorite restaurant, with other of our friends, again in honor of him.

I feel I should explain the choice of the music piece for the ‘mood’ of this blog; I have explained before, but Randy found religion in his final years and had begun to take better care of himself, even as he was terrified what the doctor(s) would find. What they found was never as bad as he thought they would find, of course, but I have to believe he extended his life a few years longer by finally doing so, and I am again grateful that he did. So, he did ‘rise above’ so much those last maybe ten years of his life.

I am certain he would wonder why we all spent so much time honoring him, or at least he used to wonder why his friends loved him so. He was a bit weird that way, though I understand many Out There feel the same way about themselves. All I can say about that is that you never know how much you have affected someone or how much love and respect they have for you, but never doubt that at least someone Out There has been positively affected by you, even if you are not certain of it.

At any rate, I am back after a kind of extended absence, and even as I have that book to finish by the end of the month, I hope to be a little more active here and try to catch up on zombie stories and such and participate again.

Speaking of the book…

Writing Update

As it happened, my hosts in Alaska slept in later than I, so I had a lot of time in the mornings to devote to writing. Been a while since and update, so…

I really have no idea how many pages this will be, as I have kept boosting the number every few weeks, but I still have to finish and then go back through an refine, make sure I didn’t drop or clarify plot points and such, so mebbe 450 pages in total? 🤷♂️

At any rate, I hope this finds whoever reads this far in good and happy spirits.