And taking care of somebody else made me feel good. Like discovering you're more than you thought you were. More even than you hoped to be.

And marking off time struck me as something like counting empty spaces—spaces you know can't ever be filled.

Maybe...in a way, this coffee reminds me of something. Maybe...maybe only a philosopher or a mad man would make this connection, but it's a little like life. I mean it's powerful going down and that doesn't even take into account the aftertaste, which really takes getting used to.

Even if you forget everything else I want you to always remember that you are a person of value, and you have a friend who loved you enough to give you his most valued possession.

When people's emotions are involved they don't want to listen.

Like the Bible tells us, when a man will lay down his life for a friend, well, then there ain't no greater love in this here world than that.

It was like that. Sometimes I'd go for a period—days or weeks—without feeling the full sweep of my loss, and then as unexpected as a thunderclap, the realization would rip the protective coating from my senses. Maybe that's the way it is with trick knees and aging griefs. Totally pain free one moment and absorbingly painful the next.