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Saturday, October 3, 2020

Blog Friend

 

 

Blog Friend



The nice thing about blogging is having friends that you never actually meet. 

The absolutely worst thing about blogging is losing friends you’ve never actually met.

Generally these friends you’ve never met just drop off the blogging scene.  You never really have closure.  My lovely friend who I never met, Lo, dropped of the blog grid several years ago.  She was very old, had trouble with her eyesight, and I can only assume she has passed…it has been several years.

Lo was wonderful, I loved that feisty old lady.  She was strongly liberal versus my conservative bent.  We did not agree on whom to vote for, but we both wanted the same thing for the world, for freedom, for people to get along.  If we had the chance we could have argued politics for hours and still remained great friends.

I had a similar relationship with Craig, a fraternity friend who often visited my blog and always left kind words.  When we met at our annual reunions we would talk politics for some time.  We usually agreed to disagree but left with respect for each other’s views, something that is very uncommon today.

Craig was killed a few years ago.  He was sideswiped on a highway, bike riding with his wife by a careless teenager.  I think the only person I have ever known in my life that would have forgiven that carless teen would be Craig.

I only recently realized I had not seen a blog post from another highly liberal friend who I had never met but reminded me very much of Lo and Craig for his love of life and deep compassion for all things and all people.  Rick Watson of “Life 101.”

Rick would often comment on my posts and I would comment on his.  He was a talented guitar player and composer along with his beautiful wife Jilda.  Theirs was apparently a story book romance, sweethearts from their teens. Rick’s love of Jilda, his nephew, music, bee keeping, dogs, and life itself came through crystal clear in his writing.

It has been months since I saw a post from Rick or had a comment on mine.  Rick posted EVERY day.  I remembered that his wife also had a blog that I had never visited.  With great trepidation I visited her blog today. 

Rick passed suddenly two months ago.  He had mentioned he was a bit under the weather in his last post. 

Covid-19.

I have no definitive belief in an afterlife.  The existence of life itself is too complicated for me. There must be a God or a force that has created life as we know it, and it must be a good force as most of the world has such beauty.  There must be some sort of an afterlife beyond my possible comprehension for life itself to make any sense…or maybe it doesn’t.

I hope there is something beyond where when the time comes I can once again argue politics with my friend Craig, and my friends Lo and Rick who I have never met.

 

15 comments:

  1. I occasionally followed Rick's blog and left a comment and he occasionally read my blog and left a comment. I have several blog friends who followed him and left comments on all his blog posts. I was shocked to hear of his sudden death as several had written about him. (In a way, that's a good way to go if one has to go and we all have to go one day). Sad of course for his wife. I often wonder what have happened to bloggers over the years. Good reminder for us that blog to leave instructions to our loved ones on doing a final blog post when we pass and then delete the blog after a bit. Lots of old blogs just out there with posts from several years ago. Makes you wonder why they stopped blogging.

    betty

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  2. I agree with you about cherishing our blog friends, and how sad to hear about your friend Rick's sudden passing. I have strong political opinions and believe my life is made richer by chats with my friends who have opposing views. Sort of like the rich deep friendship of Justices Ginzberg and Scalia. As Scalia said of their friendship "some things are more important than votes."

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  3. I did not know about Rick and my heart is broken. I've been rather out of touch with blogs lately and I miss those bloggers who have signed off. Thank you for telling us.

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  4. I'm so sorry you have lost your friends. perhaps there is a place where you can all meet again. Cloud nine?

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  5. Sorry your friends are gone. They live on in your memories. Their pages may still be up, if you feel like reminiscing. I often wonder about my old blog buddies Stephen Hayes (The Chubby Chatterbox), Fishducky, and Jimmy (from Jimmy's Opinion).

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  6. Well ... I consider you a friend JoeH. That's the good thing about the internet and blogging. We meet new people whom we'd never would have met in real life because of distance. And I agree, it is sad when some stop blogging suddenly.

    God bless you.

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  7. It is not easy when we lose friends. Please accept my condoleces.

    If i ever get to take a trip to your state, i would love to take you and Mrs C out for coffee and a chat. Yes, even if we disagreed on some things, i would want to remain your friend.

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  8. I am so sorry for the loss of your friend Rick. We do get attached don't we? It is so troubling when a regular blogger goes silent. We hope they have just burned out on blogging. I have lost a couple and it just hurts.

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  9. Oh,no. I didn't realize or hadn't heard about Rick. No, no no....I am in tears. I didn't know Rick or Jilda personally, just the blog. But what a wonderful man he was. I hope Jilda will be OK. Thanks for posting it.
    So many have passed ~ I hear of someone every week....so take care, be safe.

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  10. Sorry about your blogging buddy. I, too, have been left wondering what has happened to a few bloggers i never met who abruptly stopped writing. I’ve had to assume the inevitable we all face sooner or later has occurred.

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  11. I'm so sorry Joe. I wonder whatever happened to Sharon Qualls of "Now You See Me" blog. I'm pretty sure quite a few of us had her in our blogging circle. I've tried commenting on her blog since but there's no commenting allowed. I hope she's well or maybe she's on the flipside waiting for the rest of us. :) - Maybe we should all write death posts.. "If you're reading this, I'm fucking dead."

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  12. I remember Rick's blog. I didn't know this. Very sad. I do think of my blog friends when I don't hear from them.

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  13. you are such a beautiful person dear Joe ,this post brought tears in my eyes

    i am sorry that few of your friends have passed away ,i knew Rick from comments of other fellow bloggers ,while blogging though we visit not all but we become familiar and feel strangely connected to those whom we see as names only
    i can relate to your last lines so well and i agree to each bit of it
    think of you as my own always dear friend with heart filled with best wishes for you and your's !

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  14. I'm sorry you didn't know about Rick. I read his last post and was going to comment when I saw one comment that said RIP Rick. I was stunned and still think of him a lot. I feel so bad for Jilda as she navigates her life without him. He was larger than life with his talents and ability to make you feel like you'd like to sit on his porch and have a fun conversation. I haven't met any of my regular bloggers that I visit virtually but I feel like I know a few of them pretty well. Your post was so well written and heart felt. Made me have tears in my eyes. I have a strong faith and I too hope to meet all my friends on the other side...especially the Cranky ones! Hugs to you from Ohio!

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  15. Where is my Blogging friend JoeH? Does he blog no more?

    God bless.

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