Tears For Two

TEARS FOR TWO

A TRUE STORY

December 1st , 2013

         Today was a very sad day for me. Very, very sad. You know it’s a terrible thing when you have to bury one friend, but it’s even harder when you have to bury two.

         We were all like brothers, The Three Musketeers, so to speak, but in fact, they were real brothers, in the truest sense of the word.

         And you know what else? Not only were they just brothers, they were twins; identical in every aspect, but completely opposite at the same time.

         Granted, I hadn’t known them for very long; maybe three or four years at the most. But even in that short time we became extremely close. We were practically inseparable. Wherever I went, they went, and wherever they went, I went. We traveled the country together. When I had to move to Texas from California a couple of years ago, they came with me. And when I went back to California this last summer to walk my daughter down the aisle, yes, they came with me.

         It’s like we were made for each other.

         OK. I knew they were getting old. They were certainly showing their age.

         But it’s not like I killed them. Well, maybe one of them. Technically, one of them wasn’t quite dead. But if anything, it was a mercy killing, and no court in the land would ever convict me. Besides, he didn’t have much time left anyway, and he couldn’t have gone on without his brother. And knowing how close they were, I knew they’d want to be buried together. After all, they came into this world together, so why not go out together?

         What made it even sadder though, is that I was the only one at their funeral. No family members were in attendance, if they even had any family. I don’t know. If they did, they never mentioned them to me. And apparently, they didn’t have any other friends, either. I guess I was their only one. And since I was the only one there, I had to give the eulogy. I kept it short. I simply reflected on the places we went together, the things we’d seen together, and the things we’d done together.

         I only choked up one time. That was when I began shoveling the dirt into their grave.

         As I said before, it was a very special relationship, one that I don’t think I’ll ever have again.

         So now I guess it’s time to say my final goodbyes.

         “Farewell, my beloved tennis shoes. May your soles rest in peace.”