in *hey* i attempt to wake from the ai slumber party

I’ve told you before that my best friend was dying of prostate cancer. Well, fuck this, he’s now dying quicker from liver cancer. We’re still doing the Wakeup Grandpa! series to keep his spirits up and his mind sharp. I can see the depletion in him as we go more than an hour. He is positive. Hopeful. And dying right before my eyes.

It’s a blessing. He has always been a blessing to me. Thirty-something years ago we became fast friends on the tennis court and extended that friendship into a lifetime of learning and friendship. An adopted dad of sorts. I think that’s why the “grandpa” idea was his. My daughter, at 23, is the most likely candidate to make him a real grandpa, and she’s not dating. So…

In a lunch with friends last weekend, I said, “This isn’t meant to sound morbid, but, John, you are also giving us a great example about how to go out with dignity and kindness. I am imagining I will be nearby.”

“You’ve had a few people cross over in your life,” he said to me later, passing in the hallway.

“Yes.”

The understanding is that I will provide all the support I can to him and his wife. He has been so much more influential and positive in my life than my father, who died of cancer at 54. I was 22. My best friend is dying even as I am wrestling the laughs and tears out of both of us. He’s a good sport. You’ll see. His deadpan is an act. He can tell a raunchy joke with the best of them.

See also: Wakeup Grandpa!

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