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When you have known someone longer than you haven't known them,

it is easy at times to get on each other's nerves. The big picture of what's going on in each other's life can be overlooked as an individual item of interest becomes the proverbial pea under the Princess' mattress, causing bickering and arguing and exclamations of hatred, all thrown out in a moment of unintended fury.

Such is my relationship with my best friend. I met him my Junior year of high school and we have been very close ever since. Now we don't always get along, and there are times when in my opinion I find his reasonings and rationale to be very... well... flawed, for lack of a better word. He has idiosyncrasies and mannerisms that I find just strange, and we have arguments and debates I simply just don't have with anyone else - debates which to the uninitiated would seem just downright weird. But through it all we have been friends for over 25 years, and I would take a bullet for him without thought or reservation.

I don't think that I have ever told him, but I really do have a tremendous amount of respect for him. When most of us hit our early twenties and decided to move out into the world to pursue our dreams, he chose to stay at home and look after his elderly parents, his income combined with theirs keeping them living a comfortable lifestyle beyond the limits of Social Security alone, with very little assistance from other members of his family. As the years progressed, this eventually became in itself a full time job, and I mean that in a very literal sense of the word. Over the past decade or so, the requirements became so intense he needed to place his mother in a nursing home as her needs were beyond what he was capable of while still caring for his dad.

Most of us work a 9-5 job, or a variation thereof, and at the end of the day we can leave our work behind, with a weekend conveniently thrown in every 5 days just to keep us mentally healthy. What would you do if your job required you to be on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with not a single soul to give you any respite; no vacation; no sick leave; and the knowledge that even if someone were to offer assistance, they would probably do it wrong? Could you do it? WOULD you do it? I know I wouldn't. But very simply, that is what he did -- for years.

This week his father passed away, 2 months shy of his 100th birthday. The last couple of years saw a serious decline in his health, and ever more responsibility by my friend. The stress of this burden permeated even when he would do his best not to show it. I miss the father who used to always make me laugh, was an avid Kings fan, and a lover of working outdoors. His passing is sad, but it removes the dark cloud from over the head of my friend. He can now strive for his dreams without worrying about his parents' wellbeing, and can enjoy himself without the guilt of "leaving them home alone". This is the blessing that comes out of the sadness.

To Ken R., I am glad to know you and I am incredibly honored to call you my friend and brother.