One of the really good ones is gone

A good friend of mine died last night. If you divide your friends up by how often you see them, Mike was not someone I saw often at all. It had been a couple of years at least. But if you divide friends by how close they are to your heart, he was right there with the best of them.

My friend Mike was the sweetest, gentlest, nicest man I've ever known. I know people sometimes say I'm nice but I couldn't touch Mike on my best day. I met him in 1975 (maybe a bit before but I don't remember for sure) when I worked with him on a summer job in our company's office in Brea, CA. He was the chief technician for that office and eventually the entire company and was about 10 years older than me. Mike was a geek before geekiness was cool. He was a tinkerer, an audio freak who loved music but loved the gear a little bit more and a ham radio operator, and he was brilliant around a circuit board. At that time he had 4 sons and a wife he would divorce shortly thereafter.

Mike was fun to hang out with. He had lots of interesting stories from his days in the military as a communications officer in Vietnam. But I loved him from the start because he was a contemplative, perceptive soul with a permanent smile, a mischievous streak and a love of good Scotch. When I had my first go-round working for my father, he was the one person who could settle me down when the family/business stuff started to close in on me. He was selfless and generous and boundlessly caring for those he loved.

I was lucky enough to be present when Mike met the love of his life, Louise, and got to spend many happy times with them during the early days of their romance. They were the cutest couple ever, just a shade over 10 feet tall between the two of them. I can still remember how their faces lit up when they talked about each other then, and even after 20 years.

Mike emailed me this summer and told me he had been diagnosed with leukemia. It didn't respond to treatment and it was a steady downhill path to yesterday. I haven't seen him much since we stopped working together, but I still feel a huge loss at his passing.

Rest in peace, my friend. I know you wouldn't want anyone to mourn, but I'll have to admit I did that a little. But I'll celebrate your life from now to New Years and beyond.