Lost Friend

I've done a terrible thing and I am having trouble getting over it. I had (have?) a friend named Butch who is an 80+ year old ex merchant marine. He is a crusty old sailor but had good stories, grew 20+ varieties of peppers and truckloads of tomatoes, and was willing to share. I learned much from him while visiting. He called when he got back from his daughter's in Texas because he had some goodies for the children and good chocolate for me. We didn't go. I felt too busy to listen to him rant about how the government and Bush were destroying everything.

Now he is gone. He left for Snug Harbor, a retirement home for old seamen in North Carolina. We didn't say thank you or good-by. I suppose he thinks we didn't care. We didn't know he was going away so soon. I thought we had one more year for gardening. I knew he was tying up loose ends. He gave me seeds from his favorite old tomato, a red habenaro, and his gorgeous tree formed wisteria. I knew his cancer was back and he was worried. I just thought he had more time.

I got the address from the web site and I will write and see how he is. Writing seems lame. I should have gone over there when he called.