Said goodbye to an old friend yesterday. Don Lyles was a good man who played a very important part in my younger days. He took good care of me and a lot of my friends, and taught us a lot about a lot. He let us attempt to be ourselves when most of us had no idea who we were. He was our friend. He passed away earlier this week, but somehow, before the service was ended, we were all together again, talking and laughing under his careful watchfulness just like we always used to do, almost as if we’d never been apart. I’m not sure anyone other than Don could have achieved that, and it was a perfect way to remember him and everything. Thank you, Don. I look forward to the next time we’re all together.
