I found out yesterday that my best mate from high school has terminal cancer.

I don’t know what to say.

But I know I want to cry.

WP really was my best mate.  We hung out, discussed life, listened to one another, laughed with one another.  All sitting on the back of a motorbike on the headland of the farm.

That’s what best mates do in high school.

And then we drifted apart.

Best mates from high school tend to do that too.

I’d tried from time to time, over the years, to find him again.  Reconnect.  But it never happened.

Then this week it did.  I did a Facebook search for him and there he was.

And he remembered me… with a “Hey Neighbour”.

And then he broke the news.  Asking not for sympathy, but for love and support for his family.

But I wanted to cry.  I’d finally reconnected, after too many years, with a guy that I had loved, laughed with, cried over… and soon he’ll be gone.

Even though 20 years has past, I will cry.  A good man, a good friend, will be gone.

The lessons I’ve learned from this week?

Value your health. It is said far too often that you don’t know what you’ve got until it is gone, and your health is definitely one of these things…

Don’t let your friends drift away. They are a part of you, helped shape your future, way back when…

And never let a day pass without telling your family that you love them. Because you never know when your time will come…