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Lost a friend today

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 2:06 pm
by Paul Wolfe
In September I got in touch with an old friend I'd not seen in years through Facebook. I met Mike in 1996 when he hired me to work at the Salish Lodge & Spa in Snoqualmie, WA and we became friends. We lost touch when we both left that job after many years and, as so many of us do, I found him on Facebook and got in touch.

At that time he told me he'd been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and was given days to live. Two weeks ago he told me that not only had he beaten his cancer, but he was now bitch-slapping it :)

Mike lost his battle with cancer over the weekend. He was 53 years old.

Re: Lost a friend today

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 2:21 pm
by Tito
May god bless his soul,and may he grant you serenity paul..

Re: Lost a friend today

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2016 10:16 pm
by Paul Wolfe
Thanks, Tito.

Re: Lost a friend today

Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2016 1:50 am
by leftyaxeman
Condolences Paul.

Re: Lost a friend today

Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2016 2:42 am
by GUITARIDOL5682
Ah shit man... the dredded C strikes again...Sorry about your friend Paul..

Re: Lost a friend today

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 6:41 pm
by Trigger
Sorry to hear this Paul, I recently got in touch with a friend I last saw when we were both 17. I had lost touch with him and although we had become friends on FB a while ago I was still reluctant to meet up with him. When Bowie died he was posting his sadness about the death and I thought 'just see him' so I did, I was too upset to go to work and can rearrange my days easily so I went for coffee at his place!

We sometimes need to get in touch because we so easily lose life and it's largely unnoticed by anyone other than our families.

Re: Lost a friend today

Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 3:22 am
by Paul Wolfe
Thanks, to all of you, I appreciate it. That's what made UR great, we made friendships beyond Randy Rhoads here.

As for my friend Mike, I wish I could share with you just how positive he was in the face of death. He was never in denial, he hoped he'd lived but knew the reality of that was slim. In January we had a light snow so he posted pictures on Facebook of himself buzzing around the street in front of his home on a 4-wheeler with the caption, "I just had to!" He refused to let the spectre of death erase the smile from his face and he posted something positive every chance he got.

I regret the fact that I let myself get busy with life and didn't find the time to go see him before he passed. Life is fleeting for all of us and we should always make time for friends.

Re: Lost a friend today

Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 11:41 am
by Nick
Sorry for your loss Paul, look at it this way Death is only one part of life. You will see your friend again we all we see the ones we love that pass too soon.

We are born, we live, we die, then we live again in the light

Re: Lost a friend today

Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2016 12:33 am
by Paul Wolfe
Well said Nick, that is exactly what I believe.