MOTM

When I heard that Larry and Anne passed away, I was beyond stunned. 
At the wake, I cried like a baby.  I could not bear to attend the
funeral so I didn't.  Somehow, the pain was much bigger than I could
ever imagine.  It took a few days before I figured out why.

We don't choose our family.  Like them or not, you have to put up with
crazy aunt Bessie and "strange" uncle Tony.  Our friends are people we
have chosen to like purely from some resonance we share.  Friendship
is 100% voluntary with no automatic or expected feelings attached. 
That makes our friends very special people and quite unlike family. 
They are beyond family in many ways.  When we lose such friends, we
have lost much.  Each of us though, has been enriched by having been
able to call them a "friend".  Larry was my friend.

Peace.
Tom Farrand