Do we ever think about friends till they're gone?

I,m a summer person. If it's sunny I'm at the lake. I've been hanging with the same lake crowd for almost forty years. We used to park our boats at Dodge Park #4 and relax bobbing with the waves. Back in the seventies and eighties we all had very fast boats that made a lot of noise. You know, the type that most lakefront property owners hate. At the end of a long day we used to do a Banzai charge from one end of the lake to the other before we went home. There were twenty-five boats in our group so it was quite a site for the people on shore. That was our only act of civil disobedience though so the Sheriff would ignor our indecretion. Our boats didn't drive 55!

This brings me to the real heart of my story. There was one member of our group who did not have a boat. His name was Roger. we would park our boats and soon Roger would wade out and start talking.He always had something good to say about our boats and any performance boat owner loves having their ride complimented. Roger was so engaging and such a genuine person that in a very short period of time we looked forward to seeing him.

Soon Roger could come out and have his pick of which boat he wanted to get on and if he did not come out to the boats we would go ashore and get him. Over time our group drifted away from boating and migrated to the beach. We were now on Roger's turf and were warmly welcomed.

Year after year every Spring till October the group would congregate at Dodge Park and sit around and shoot the breeze and relax. We did not really interact except for the lake. Without the boats the group did not seem to have much in common. Roger solved that issue though. He was constantly asking us about who we were, what we did, etc. Soon we all started folowing Roger's direction and through conversation stsrted developing as a group built on concern for each other as opposed to how fast our boats were. Roger had become the catalyst for a better group.

We don't hang around at Dodge Park anymore. The group has migrated to Spring Mill Pond at the Island Lake Park. Along with the group came Roger, our mentor, our friend and the first person to say hi when you arrive.

Fourth of July we were all supposed to meet at the Pond. We were all a little concerned when there was no Roger. Roger did not show up all weekend.

When I left the pond last week I told the group that I was going to go back to Dodge Park this Sunday. I was very suprised when I arrived at Dodge, because the group was there. Prominently situated in the middle of the group was Roger's chair. I thought great Roger's here. When I asked where he was they said he died Fourth of July. They brought his chair to the park because that is where he loved to be, and next week we are going to sink his chair to the bottom of Spring Mill Pond where he can always be with us. This was a kind and caring man who made us all better for knowing him and my group is going to miss him.

I shared this story to demonstrate how one person can have a significant impact on those who surround him. He changed the relationship of the group from on built on a posession (boats) to one built on genuine concern for what was happening in each other's lives. KINDA LIKE NETWORKING SHOULD BE.