Last week a very good friend exited the planet.
Mike and I have been friends for about 30 years, a friendship based on a mutual love of football, decent wine and good restaurants. We met originally at a rugby international on the Hibs pitch. Malta were playing, and losing, to Poland on the day. Mike, although not a passionate rugby follower, was nevertheless keen to see how little Malta acquitted herself against, what turned out to be, a team of giants, as I recall. Yes we lost, but we did OK and were certainly not rolled over by the Poles.
Well... like you do we got chatting and discovered that rugby wasn't the only limited interest sport that we were consumed by. Cricket and golf were also high on our list of preferred activities. But, the one big unifying game that appealed to the pair of us was footie. He was a Liverpool fan, while I was an all-weather supporter of Italian (recently staggering) giants, Juventus. And naturally this footballing dichotomy sparked a few contretemps between us... but always of a good natured variety.
At his home Mike was lucky enough to have space for a designated TV room. And it was here that we watched Italian Serie A and English Premier League football games. But not just those... we also spent hours watching Test Cricket or one of the major golf tournaments. We've even whiled away afternoons watching Wimbledon or some other major sporting event. Slumped in front of the big screen with a cold beer in hand grumbling at slow scoring rates in the cricket or pointlessly urging on Rorie McCilroy at Augusta. Yes, it was always sport, it sort of defined our friendship, at least I think it did.
Mike was a very generous guy... both financially and in spirit, so when we decided to formalise our weekly lunch dates, I insisted that whatever happened we would split the bill equally between the pair of us... and this we stuck to from our first to last dates. Sometimes we ate well and maybe too expensively, but mostly we went for simple fare at reasonable prices. And these were by far the most memorable lunch dates. Two plates each were the norm, whether they be fine-ish dining or fastish food. Whenever we ate out he invariably ended his meal with an ice cream desert. I am more of a starter plus main course bloke... Mike was, by contrast, a main course and pudding guy. It worked well. I'd finish off my meal with an espresso lungo, while he'd polished off a plate of vanilla ice cream or similar.
Mike was also a devoted family man with three lovely daughters. The girls are now either married or shacked-up with three very pleasant guys, much to Mike's satisfaction... and much also to his - and his wife's - credit. He was also a successful businessman, now semi-retired and happy to pass the factory on to the next generation.
He once told me that he didn't make friends very easily and partially blamed shyness for this. Well he was certainly a very good friend to me and I will always remember him as such. And now he's gone, leaving quite a gap in my life. An acquaintance once reminded me of an uncomfortable truth. "When a good friend dies, mourning them is essentially a selfish act. What you are doing is missing is his/her company." And yes, thinking about it, I'm afraid that is true.