Last weekend I got to spend time with one of Tony’s best guy friends. He was the best man at our wedding level bestie and someone we have both been friends with since high school. We don’t get to see each other often because life is busy when you each have 3 kids at home. Whenever we do hang out for an extended period the conversation always moves to reminiscence.
We laugh and tell the same stories we’ve all heard before. Tears are shed because we miss him so much. He was a best friend in different ways to each of us. I love those shared stories on repeat, even if they make me cry. There is something healing about shared grief.
That evening, Tonys friend shared with me a few tidbits I’d never heard before. He described what he saw from the outside of our relationship looking in. Tony would call me when they’d be driving home together from a hunting trip on speaker phone. How he could hear the love we had for one another in the simple exchanges of, are you on your way home, and checking in on each other. He said we were perfect for each other and our love was one to be envied.
What a gift that bit of insight is to my heart. It’s painful because Tony isn’t here for me to share that love within this physical world anymore. I know so many pieces of him and us, but I treasure adding pieces to my hoard of knowledge. So, while I may have cried to hear it, I am glad of it.
