1. Friday, May 24, 2019 was a day that divided me between joy and grief. I'll begin with the grief. In the morning, Janice sent me a message that Kirk (Goose) only had hours to live. His kidneys and liver had both stopped functioning. Stu, Ed, and Byrdman were on their way to see Goose when this news went out and before long they arrived in Missoula and talked with Kirk and the family and paid Kirk their last respects. In the early evening, I received a message from Kirk's sister, Kay. Kirk had died.
2. I carried the sadness of Kirk's last hours into the joy of my day in Eugene. The Troxstar and Father Bingham Powell and I met for breakfast and great yakking at Brails (the southern branch) and then I scooted to Market of Choice where I met with Lynn and Kathleen for some rousing conversation and a lot of catching up.
I then jetted north to Valley River Center and met up at BJ's with three men I've known for most of my life. Roger drove down from Salem. Terry drove down from Gladstone. Dale Bachman came over from Springfield and the four of us had an awesome couple of hours together talking about old basketball and softball days, our lives in our professions, and shared our grief about Kirk with one another. It meant the world to me to be with these guys on the day we were losing our friend. We've all known Goose for anywhere from 45-60 years and I found great strength in simply being in a booth, seated at a table with Roger, Terry, and Dale.
Soon after Roger, Terry, Dale and I said our farewells to one another, my trip back to south Eugene was halted when my phone rang. I pulled over into a parking spot on Willamette Street and answered, knowing it was Stu and he told me what he experienced when he talked with Goose at his bedside a few hours earlier. I believed Stu when he told me that he thought Goose could hear him as Stu shared his love for Kirk and expressed the love and concerns of all Goose's Kellogg friends. We will always know that as his life drew to an end, Stu made sure Goose knew his lifelong friends were with him, loved him, and would honor and celebrate his life upon his passing.
3. My day of seeing friends continued at both locations of 16 Tons. I met up with Don and Cliff at 16 Tons South where I enjoyed a pint and a half of Ft. George's Crysknife Hazy IPA and over ninety minutes of great yakking. I used to meet up with Don and Cliff and others on Thursdays (I think it was) for beers back when I lived in Eugene and I thoroughly enjoyed being back in their company again and talking about family, travel, beers, music, our health, and a host of other things.
Debbie, Jay, and Sherri were holding down a table at 16 Tons North and around 4:30 or so I joined them for more fun talking another half pint of Hazy IPA, this one from Georgetown Brewing called Matchless. Jay then treated me to a short pour of this year's 16 Tons 9th Anniversary Ale, a superb sour ale from de Garde called Neuvieme Premiere. Before long, Debbie left to go make music with Peter and Laura and I hung around and accidentally became a part of a beer sharing table when guys at that table brought beers they were sharing to our table to try out. I didn't catch the name of the couple of little testers I sampled, but they were superb sour ales, beers I loved and couldn't believe my good fortune that I was drinking.
Now I was hungry and I shot straight out West 11th for some stir fried noodles and bbq pork at my old favorite spot, Yi Shen.
I had thought I would drop by the Troxstar's house after I ate, but it had been a full day, an emotionally up and down day, and I texted him that I was done. It turned out he was, too. So, I returned to Jeff's and went to bed early, hoping to be refreshed and ready for another great day on Saturday.
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