Larry Hnetka Goes HMmmm

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

There is a great deal of my friend Jack in this quote. I found out today he died on New Year’s Eve.

Although we somehow drifted apart these past few years, I will always remember his friendship and support over some difficult years in my life.

I met Jack soon after he moved to Vancouver in 1986. For several years we lived across the hall from each other. His partner Michael had discovered an older building in the West End with two penthouses. They rented one and when the other penthouse was available, he convinced Bob and I to rent the other one.

We had many fine dinners, cocktails, infamous pot-luck extravaganzas and chinwags on the large adjoining patios in those penthouses. And of course, when they adopted their first baby, an adorable cocker spaniel, that started us on the road to getting our first dog.

Jack had a wonderful sense of style. He had exquisite taste and filled their home with the finest china and crystal stemware.

Jack travelled the world and looked his finest in his tuxedo for yet another Captain’s Dinner on yet another cruise to some exotic port.

Yet, year after year, he braved his mosquito bite allergic reactions and pulled on his cowboy boots for annual vacations to his favourite dude ranch in the interior.

Most of all I will remember his wide-eyed innocent look of trust at my sometimes embellished stories that I made up just to pull his leg a bit. When he realized I wasn’t serious, there was always that good natured realization that it was just in good fun.

I can only hope he may be holding a chair for me at the Captain’s Table someplace wherever he’s sailing right now - exploring, dreaming, discovering.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008 at 8:16:42 PM and is filed under JOURNAL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.