40 Years Ago

We have very few photos of our best friend Mike Wagner. Here he is holding our daughter when she was not quite 2 months old.

Today the two of us are reminiscing, as we often do, about this very special friend. His life enhanced and contributed enormously to ours, and his memory still does.

Forty years ago Mike was killed in an auto accident on his way home from work. On Monday, October 13th, his wife, his 2 year old son, and his father, who was visiting from Chicago, were waiting for him to arrive home so they could all have dinner together. He was just 2 blocks from home when the accident happened. His heart continued to beat for another 7 or 8 hours and then he was gone. On October 8th, he had just had his 23rd birthday.

We were all so young, so inexperienced, so unprepared for the ugliness that life can dish-up. We knew so little about eternity. We lived so in the immediate. We were devastated by the loss.

For the 2 of us, lingering today in the memory of Mike in no way mitigates the saddness or the horrifying tragedy of his young death, but it somehow helps to balance the scale of life, if even just a little. We have chosen always to focus on Mike's life, not his death.

Mike's family had moved into Mr. Fun's neighborhood, when they were both young teenagers. They became instant friends when they discovered that they had similar interests in sports car races and 10-speed bicycles. They built model cars together and listened for hours to the music of The Kingston Trio. They graduated from high school the same year--Mike was serious about academics and Mr. Fun was the class clown. They started attending college at the same time.

As a married couple, we have fond memories, dozens of them, of times spent with Mike & Sally. We enjoyed many common interests: our marriages, our children, freetime, TV programs, music, ice cream cones at 31 Flavors, and always cars--sports car races, formula one, and slot cars.

In the loss of our dear friend we have always tried to find meaning and to grow. We have never stopped missing him. Today we celebrate Mike's life and are so thankful for the friendship we had with him.

Good night from Southern California.
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol