Thread: Men can Cry:)

Very sorry to hear this Bill.

He was a very lucky man to have a friend who picked up the phone tonight, and his call honoured both you and your friendship.

Kris

I am going to pray for both of you.

When I was 37 or 38 a friend who was 28 made the same phone call to me. He and I met in FL through the AA program and though I had moved up North to NJ we kept in touch. I recall that we were both looking for a power greater than ourselves and read all sorts of things about Buddhism, Vedanta, and other Eastern religions. We would discuss these things, both of us were anti Christian. Up in NJ I got saved and I remember that conversation.

He called and I told him I was a believer. He said he didn't know if he wanted to talk with me anymore, but we talked for three hours on that occasion, and many more hours on others. I sent a book to him, Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, the atheist who had become a convert. Not long after that Ricky began going to church and became a believer. He had a melanoma on his neck when he was 19. It was caught in time and removed. I remember the day that he called and told me that his 5 years of twice yearly checkups showed he was all clear.

Then one day a few years later he coughed up some blood. He was a non smoker and he went to the doctor to find that he had tumors in lungs, liver and before long in his brain. He called me and told me that they had said he had incurable cancer and was going to die within weeks or months at most. The conversation was similar to the sad one you had Bill. I can only be grateful that he and I will meet again to resume our friendship one of these days.

My sincere condolences for your friend and for you. I will also keep both you and your friend in my prayers.

It is very much worth crying, brother. His life ended in the light of your friendship. Now he is in the Source of life; the Divine Light. Bless you both.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Need to Vent.
Good friend called an Hr ago,Is 73 yrs young,very Vibrant man.
has stage 5 lung cancer which has turned into bone cancer, Than liver cancer.
he called to say goodbye he started to cry,I started to cry,he said it was nice knowing you,I said the same.
I said Doug,I will pray for you,(knowing full will it will have no effect)
He had to hang up as he was beside himself,I understand,I still have tears running down my face
Life is short,pisses me off.

You helped him more than you will ever know, because you helped him bear an overwhelming sense of pain. He needed you and you came through.

Thanks guys,still have tears of sadness,is what it is.Going to bed,will say a prayer,just hope God snatches him quick.

His job here is almost finished now, and he called to tell you to not stop doing yours, to thank-you and to wish you well, and he'll see you on the other side. My thoughts are with you pixelfixed.

You had the rare opportunity to say goodbye. Be thankful for that. You will part with no regrets which imho is the best it can be. This will ease your pain later. I feel for you.

To love and be loved is a special gift. I feel your pain Bill & have prayed for you both to receive comfort.

A couple of years ago an old Navy buddy I'd been close to while serving together but hadn't seen for a few years looked me up and convinced me to install Skype on my computer. He'd been diagnosed, had a lung removed (non-smoker all his life, btw), but the garbage was back, and he was home basically waiting to die. We had a month or so of Skyping every night, and reliving some good times. I spent A LOT of time those last 30 days or so Skyping. Chatting, even watching movies and the NHL playoffs together. When he started to feel really bad he told me he didn't think it would be long now. One day I logged on for a pre arranged chat and he simply never logged on. His wife called me a day or so later to confirm.
So I sat looking at the screen knowing full well what had happened, thinking curses at God (who I only seemed to believe existed when I was angry), medical science, and the US Navy for having us rip out asbestos lagging without so much as a paper mask until I'd settled down and realized I'd got to spend some pretty precious moments with a friend who's time had come, and pretty soon, was feeling thankful for those Skype conversations.
Dunno where I'm going with this, other than, at the end of the day, try to be grateful for that phone call. It was a hard blessing.
Peace.