Bryan

When I moved to this area (my stars! It's been a long time!) over 11 years ago, I rented the basement of an older couple, Bryan and Ardella. They were nice people. Ardella used to listen to radio shows in Old Pennsylvania Dutch. Bryan was a WWII veteran-turned-draftsman.

Last weekend, I ran into them at a diner. We sat and chatted about their family, my family, news, and events... Then Ardella turned to me and said, "Did you hear? Bryan has Cancer." Without a proper segueway, I was stunned, so I said something completely ridiculous like "Bryan, I TOLD you to stop smoking!" (Bryan didn't drink, didn't smoke... ever, as far as I knew) He laughed. I told him to take care of himself.

I just got a call. Bryan died on Sunday. He and Ardella had been married for almost seventy years.

I'm telling you this - because I can't tell you how grateful I am that I got to see him - and we got to talk before he died. It's kind of odd, actually. The odds of us being at the same diner at the same time and all...

Life is short, mon amis. Laugh while you can.