He was as kind and generous a man as ever drew breath. When I moved to Springfield MO to help my father take care of my mother who was dying of Alzheimer's, Larry, who lived just down the road in Tulsa, began suggesting that we meet up at various locations in between. Larry and I drove all over the central midwest. They were such pleasant and welcome breaks from the difficulty of my family situation.
I was planning another road trip north from south Texas when he got his diagnosis. Selfishly, I wish he could have prolonged his life just for a little while so I could have seen him one last time. But he chose to depart his way, eschewing chemo and other extraordinary interventions, and just leave this world the way he came into it, letting nature take its course. The world has lost a dear, dear man. And I've lost a dear, dear friend. I am bereft.
