John was one of my very best friends in high school; there are many stories I could tell.  But one that always comes to mind is the time he had a skiing accident that left him with a broken jaw.  Since his jaw had to be wired shut, he had no choice but to drink all his meals through a straw.  Every day he would come to school with some disgusting-looking mixture in a glass container, we'd laugh about what it was.  "Wow, that looks so gross!  What is it?"  "Dinner last night; steak, peas and mashed potatoes.  I put it all in a blender and let it run for a while.  It's really not bad!"   Riiiight, LOL.  I actually just shared that story with my own kids recently; the thought of those meals pretty much made us all lose our appetites :)

We lost touch over the years, but would bump into each other at class reunions, and share occasional messages just to say hello.  I feel blessed to have had him in my life even to that extent. 

Goodbye old friend, you will be missed.