Savor your friends while you have them

We never met. Well, yes we did, but we never met. He was a thoughtful, provocative, small-L libertarian, patient with those willing to learn and even with those who weren't. And private. It was a long time before I learned his "real" name, and then it was by accident; he sent me a note signed with his initials and I knew of only one thoughtful, provocative, small-L libertarian with those initials.

Before then, in response to one of my "who are you" guessing games, I asked if we'd ever met. He said yes, we had, but offered no details. Even after I learned his identity, I couldn't recall that meeting, although I did recognize his face when I finally saw his picture.

Strange to be using the past tense. He died Wednesday morning.

I learned of his illness last September, exchanged a few e-mails, and had many opportunities to pick up the phone and say, "Hey, can I come see you and chat about life and philosophy and what you're going through?" The phone remained in its cradle, even last weekend when he came home from a few days in the hospital and his children posted grim-sounding updates.

Last night, a few hours after I learned of his passing, I met with some old colleagues, some whom I hadn't seen in years even though all of us still live and work in this area. I savored the time with friends, and my parting "let's do this more often than every few years" was more sincere than usual.

He was the man who used the name kyfho in this edition of this blog. I never met him, but I consider him a friend and fellow traveler, and I will miss him.