F R I E N D S

tj|tl|in|ca|st

F R I E N D S
tj|tl|in|ca|st

My friend Tim. I've known him for almost 15 years now, met him though my old friend and ex-housemate Rick. The first time I met Tim he was jogging around Delaware Park with Rick. At the time, we were all single and we all shared a bar hopping mindset, so a few times thereafter we probably got to know each other better over beer during the periodic lulls in our girl watching. Ahhh, those were the days.

Over the years we grew closer. During that time I really enjoyed talking with Tim, he is one of the most level headed friends I have. Very goal driven and the hardest worker I know, during my times in Buffalo he always held down two jobs, one as a counselor, and the other doing yard maintenance for a myriad of customers. The yard and landscaping gig came into being long before the counseling job. As a kid he mowed lawns for the neighbors and over time it turned into a full-time job for most folks. But, Tim needs to keep busy, so he went to college and eventually landed a counseling job. The job is ideal because it's typically for overnight purposes, which effectively frees him up for his landscaping business during the day.

In addition to being a very focused individual, Tim is a pretty smart cookie, both in business as well as in his personal life. In the past he has always been a great sounding board for my ideas, concerns, dreams, you name it. Genuinely engaged, past conversation with him have shown me his great compassion, consideration, imagination, humor, and above all else, his natural ability to organize and distill all my utterances into something succinct, something that I can make sense of. I guess it must be the counselor in him.

Today, Tim is now a happily married man, with a new house chocked full of children. During my visit his beautiful wife Carol was expecting their 4th. So, has Tim slowed down since I move away? Heck no! Tim is as busy as ever. He still has the counseling job, works the landscaping business, snowplows in the winter, and to top it off, manages several rental properties that he owns. In spite of his busy schedule, he still sports is boyish looks, but he is now getting a little snow on the upper slopes.

I suspect the next time I see him, a blizzard will have long since hit, but I guarentee you, he'll still have that energetic twinkle in his eye. No doubt.

I miss you Tim.