Of Impressions and Miracles

I attended the funeral today of a man with decades upon decades of sobriety. As I listened to his eulogy I was left with the impression that he not only knew what was important in the whole scope of life, he lived it thoroughly. Thoroughly enough that nearly a thousand people turned out for his funeral. He touched many, many lives.

Our paths crossed last year for the first and last time as we shared service commitments. Within minutes of meeting we realized we'd grown up in the same area and attended the same school. That we we came to this conclusion many hundreds of miles from our original homes left us shaking our heads at the miracle of sobriety, tears in both our eyes. He took me under his wing for the brief time we spent together, a big brother with a twinkle in his eye and goodness in his heart.

Hope has many disguises.