Carl Lennox, my dear friend. Ive thought of you many times over the past decade. Mostly, it was some random memory of high school or college. All that time we spent philosophizing in your parents basement. Or those nights we rode around in the Duster with AC/DC and Van Halen blasting from the car speakers cause we thought it impressed the ladies. (For the record, it never did.) All that driving gave us wonderful opportunities to talk, however, which is what I remember most about you: the conversations. About reality, about the world, about religion, about politics, about the meaning of life. I remember so many things, in fact: like the summer after we graduated high school and some of us trained for the Peachtree Road Race. That was the summer we watched Bosom Buddies (Tom Hanks first starring role!) and you made what is perhaps the best pizza Ive ever eaten. Of course there was more driving around. (We were like the dorks in the movie Dazed and Confused looking for the cool high school parties. I literally laughed out loud when I saw that film. Who knew Richard Linklater and I had the same high school experience!?) Then there was college and the Thursday nights in Athens when you, John W. and I - and sometimes Gordon, Sandy, John C. and Bud -- watched Magnum P.I. and then Simon and Simon when we should have been studying for the next days college courses. Thirty years on, I cant shake any of these memories. They are such a part of me. Years ago, I moved away from Augusta. But the older Ive gotten, the more wistful Ive become about that time in my life. They were our growing-up years. Ive occasionally dreamt of re-uniting over dinner with everyone and reminiscing -- like the characters in The Big Chill -- and all of us laughing and occasionally growing quiet at lifes mysteries. When I heard last week that you didnt have much time left, it hit me hard. When I learned this morning that you had passed even though I knew you didnt have much time, it caught me by surprise. Like a kick to the gut. Im still sorting through all my emotions. Carl, I am happy you are done with the pain. But I will miss you my friend. As I told your sister, someone said the friends you meet early in life sometimes are the ones youll have forever. I want you to know you belong in that very select group. May you be surrounded by love, my dear friend.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 04:17:40 +0000
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