ten billion butterfly sneezes

We still subscribe to the Norton Telegram. Oftentimes, there is not much to read, except details on last Friday’s football game, or how there’s all-you-can-eat special for $9.99 at a local eatery. Seeing that the paper arrives here about 10 days or two weeks after publish date, and that we’re 1200 or so miles away, we can’t take advantage of such specials.

When someone dies, though, timeliness is just not so relevant. And so it was today, as I opened the paper to the inside of page 2, where the obituaries always are, only to be greeted with news of the death of my best friend in high school. I posted the following on the on-line guestbook at the Topeka KS funeral home, who handled my friend’s arrangements:

With the Norton Telegram’s arriving at postal speed, I just found out about Paul’s passing.

I’m shocked and sorry. He and I were high school classmates; we were geeks when geeks weren’t cool.

Rocketry was our thing, and I can still remember Paul saying, “One of these days, we’ll build something big enough, and I’ll ride it.” We had matching jackets for the Paul & Kenny Rocketry Association, with rocket emblems, each lovingly crafted by our seamstress-talented mothers. They were chartreuse fabric jackets; you could see us coming!

I hadn’t seen him in years; jobs, the workaday life, and sheer miles separated us.

I’m sad; Paul and I had some great times, and I think that a lot of the same attitudes and outlooks we had 40+ years ago remain with me still.

RIP, Paul, and deepest sympathy to your family.

-k-