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THE WIND PHONE

Will the Seventies Be All About Memories?

This time of life

Jim Parton
The Wind Phone
Published in
5 min readJan 22, 2025

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Close up of author, Daughter, and Friend pictured smiling for the camera, on a sunny day
Author, Daughter, and Friend

A good friend passed away today. Well, getting more to the point, he died. His death was painful to read about. Pancreatic cancer. I knew he had been ill for several months. The death wasn’t entirely unexpected. The amount of reflection going through my mind was.

Darryl was our first good friend here, and we met him when we moved back to the Midwest sixteen years ago. He and I were very much poured into the same physical mold, and we had many common interests. My husband thought Darryl was adorable and teased him unmercifully, much to Darryl’s delight. They had cooking in common, and Darryl made fabulous, wonderful desserts to compliment my husband’s weekend grilled meals. We spent many happy times together, cooking and watching classic old movies.

Darryl posted a picture online one day of his mother playing with a small child, and I didn’t realize it was his posting when I saw it because I thought it was a picture of my mother. I assumed one of my nieces or nephews had posted an old black-and-white picture of their granny playing with them. But when I saw it was Darryl’s mother, I was dumbfounded! I sent the picture to my sisters, some nieces, and a nephew and said, “Who is granny with in this picture?”

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The Wind Phone
The Wind Phone

Published in The Wind Phone

Loss, sadness, and transition is hard. Pick up the pieces and get creative. Death, near-death, divorce, loss, transitions, graveyard, cemetery, urn plans, complicated grief, hospice care, all issues related to end of life. Not accepting letters to deceased or poetry.

Jim Parton
Jim Parton

Written by Jim Parton

Retired Teacher and Funeral Celebrant. The gay and married dad of three grown children. I have always been fascinated by the human condition. Come read with me.

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