When someone you love leaves this earth, it does something to you. Something shifts. Something clicks. You are never the same. A duality of sadness and joy coexist. You know he lives, yet he is gone from your life. Like he has gone to another country, and you will never see him again. No more high school reunions. No more texts. No more Facebook messaging. No more jokes or sharing hamburgers or reminiscing. A memory pops up, and immediately a veil of shadows dims the image when you remember he is no longer here. You long to have one more word with him. You wish you had told him how much he has always meant to you. You wish you had told him one more time how he is more brother than friend. You wish you had spent one more day talking about when you were kids, how the little brother of your best friend impacted your life. You know you will see him again in the Great Hereafter, that Jesus has him safe and sound, but for the here and now, the space he occupied is empty and sad.
Goodbye, Roger Donnell, my brother, my friend, until we meet again.
I love this picture of Roger and the dog sleeping. 