Life prepares us for Death. "It is my hope that every human boy and girl can graciously learn some of the dark or scarier things in life. Bruce O'Ugie recalls: One day, not too long ago, i stood there with my children, and wife. All of us crying, all of us lost. Not really sad, just longing for that oh too familiar untainted, unconditional love. Hoping for her words of wisdom. Like life prepares us for death... I had this friend named Brodie. Our mothers were the very best of friends all while we grew up, since we were babies. More like brothers than friends. As we got older and started schol, Granny babysat the two of us. However, our mothers had drifted apart and rarely saw one another. It seemed they just became too busy for more than a friendly hello when dropping us of for school or picking us up at Granny's. Brodie and i asked Granny one day, "do you think Bruce and i will grow up and stop being friends"? Granny chuckled and said to us, "they're still friends, i don't think they could ever not be friends. We just grow into who we are and we move on". "I'm sure they're still very best of friends. Just as I'm sure you two boys will always be best of friends". She had such a way with words. We understood as children understand things and never gave the idea another thought until the summer before we began Junior High School. As we graduated from elementary school and anxiously awaited our transition into pre-teens. Brodie was always bigger and stronger than i, so it was no surprise that he had joined the Anvul Junior High School Feild Hockey Team. He loved and was good at any kind of hockey: street, feild, ice, he even knew all the AHL league players and their stats. Even with math not being his best subject. Truthfully i believe that had it not been for Granny's insistance, they all may not have been his best subject. That was just fine with me, I was a more than academic whiz kid. I just loved to share what i learned with others, helping them with things and figuring things and ways to help out. So, i volunteered to tutor at the elementary school for the summer school kids at Anvul Elementary School. At that time i believed it was the only thing i had goin for me. It was however where i was the strongest and most skilled. When we were smaller we pretended to be a super-hero team Brodie was strength and I was knowledge. Granny had told us that strength and knowledge will always go together, always and forever. Well as our summer began, it was decided that Brodie and i no longer needed to be babysat.It was kind of sad knowing that we wouldn't be able to see her as much as we had wanted anymore. On our last day with her, we made old fashioned ice cream sundaes. The ice cream was made with one of the old ice cream makers, she even let us take turns at the crank. Suddenly Brodie turned to Granny and said, "we're gonig to miss you so much Granny", and gave her a big hug. "We sure will", i cried and hugged her too. "I'm going to miss all these warm hugs ", she said as she squeezed the two of us. "It's time for the two of you to move on now. Time to show the world what wonderful young men Granny helped raise". "We'll make you proud Granny", we both told her. Summer went on and i went every day to the elementary school to tutor and Brodie went every day to field hockey practice. I made good friends of some of the other kids that tutored and Brodie had made some good friends as well of his field hockey teammates. School started and the only time we got to see eachother was on Saturday at School games. I had actually volunteered to be the waterboy so we could talk more and see eachother more often. We could always count on Granny to be in the crowd, she was our biggest fan. Never forgetting to tell us how well we did after each game. Even our mothers had found the time to sit together and root for the Anvul Iguana's. All seemed perfect, that is until my new friends decided to go to a game, and they met Brodie's new friends. The two groups simply clashed form the very beginning. My friends thought Brodie and his friends were "Muscleheads", and Brodie's friends thought my friends and I were "Know-it-Alls". Later as we became adults Brodoe was the gym teacher at Anvul High School, and i became Mayor of Anvul. I never stopped helping others, and i don't believe Brodie ever missed a game, but the students adored him and everyone felt he was a strong figurhead. Now there i stood, saddened by the loss of Granny, Lost in the memory of all she had taught us all. I felt as though I was losing it. Even with my family, and the entire city of Anvul to support me in my time of loss. It seemed i had lost my own will to live. Suddenly i was spinning in my mind. I felt myself lose all it's strength as my entire life and everything fell into my legs and they could no longer hold and i began to fall. I felt myself going down when I heard an all too familiar voice, "careful there buddy". I felt someone lift me from under my pits before I could hit the ground and steady me to my feet. As i turned around to look, there stood Brodie. He was right there to catch me and held onto me til i stood steady. I smiled and thanked him. "You don't have to thank me Boogie", the nick name Granny had given to me, all those years ago. It was like music to my ears. I asked if he and his family would join myself and my family at Granny's after the service to catch up and have dinner together. He looked at me and he said, "where else would Strength be when Knowledge needed him". "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than here helping you and Granny move on. It's what best friends do". The rest of the day Brodie and i talked about old times and caught up. Our wives and children got aquainted with eachother and it just felt amazing to have great friends and family around me in my time of need. Later that night, my children asked, as i put them to bed, "why are we just meeting Mr. Brodie and his family if you have been friends for so long"? I simlpy smile and said to them, "sometimes people move on but best friends are forever". I turned out the light and moved down the hall to my bedroom and kissed my wife good night. I rolled onto my side and fell fast asleep. The End