Sometimes

Someone who does nice things for others is not looking for something in return. There are people like that in the world. At times I look at them with suspicion. There are those people who do what they do for the shear joy of being nice to others.

Mike was one of those people.

I have been dwelling on subjects lately that have been downers. Death and all that stuff is a part of life, so I have to address the subject again.

Mike passed away over the weekend. He was one of those guys who knew everyone. At least that's the way it seemed to me. No matter where he was or who he was with he was running into someone he knew.

There was a time in my "past life" when we walked into a bar we had never been to before. It was in part of town neither of us lived in or frequented and we stopped to check the place out.

We were no sooner sitting on stools at the bar when from behind us came the call "Hey Mike, what are you doing here?" The fellow hadn't seen Mike in a very long time, but was glad he ran into him. This fellow wanted to thank Mike for doing some sort of favor for his brother a week or so before.

Anyway, we ended up not having to buy a single beer during our stay at that bar. Instances like that were not unusual from conversations I've had with others who knew Mike. As a matter of fact, I don't think I have ever heard a bad word ever uttered about this guy.

I also don't remember Mike ever having to buy a beer.

My ex-wife didn't think very highly about him when they first met, but even her attitude towards him changed considerably as the years went by. Being in her good graces took no small feat. Trust me on that one.

She was the one who called me about his passing.

Anyway, he was one of the few people who would holler HI! at me when we ran into each other. That was even when I was in the depths of my crack addiction and few people would even acknowledge my existence. That was the way Mike was though, friend to crooks and cops, beggars and the wealthy as well as sinners and saints.

This is funny in a way.

Strange funny, not HAHA funny.

This past Sunday, I talked with my sister in Dallas. I mentioned that I would be sending more money down to her. Part is for safekeeping and part of the money is to ship more of my belongings up here to Erie.

I asked that she take my suit to a cleaners and then ship it here. I said that no one had died yet, but you never know when the suit would be needed.

The people passing I had in mind were elderly relatives. Not that I wished it or anything like that. After the call ended I was thinking, "I hope no one dies on me now."

The suit will not be here in time for the funeral. That's not going to stop me from paying my last respects to him. He wouldn't care what I wore when I came to see him anyway.

He'll be happy to see all his friends stop by to say HI!

Well, in this case, BYE!

Bye, Mike!