People you miss in your life?

How about we talk about people who have left us that we think about and miss having in our lives today...
My late brother Bob.. who was a year and a bit younger than me passed in 05, and there is not a day goes by I dont think about him and the great times we shared.. when I moved out west for the last time , he came out for work.. ( he was a pipe liner) and he ended up living with me for a couple of years.. we'd pick up a 15 pack of Pilsner(each lol) after work and once home and having finished a good supper we'd play crib till 2-3 am... I really miss those times.. when we called our Mother she had to ask who she was talking to ase sounded the same on the phone..... I truly wish he was still around today to continue those good times

My dad.. he passed at a good age of 76 while on a kayack trip.. He did a trip every year for 23 years, and it was to be his last trip.. He drowned in the inland water way near Ottawa Ont.. his blood sugar dropped and he lost contionsness and his kayack turned turtle on him.. I remember as a kid sitting in the yard asking the questions on what was such and such... for a man with a 6th grade education he was pretty smart.. He left school to join the Royal Navy during the war, but was an avid reader and as myself was for the most part self educated....
I think these 2 people were the most important in my life that I wish were still around...I advise every one to take the time to tell family members and good friends what you feel about them before its too late and you later regret not taking the time to talk to them and express your self... Dont miss an opportunity to do that.. trust me you will wish you did when its too late to do so

Deep topic.

I miss my stepfather, I was only 13 when he passed away. But looking back he played such a stable part in my life when our family needed it. And the values he taught me, will never be forgotten.

That is fantastic Bodah! Can I ask at what age he came into your life?

I guess he was a fantastic man... Too bad it was not for long...

My best friend and cousin who died of cancer 3 years ago.

She was 3 months younger than me and she suffered terribly for 4 months before passing away.
We were "almost" always together since the day we were born except for a few times when we were young and we lived far apart.

You don't choose your family but you do choose your friends.
We chose each other and stuck together. I lived with her and her parents when I went to college and we even shared an appartment in our mid 30s.

Not a day goes by that I don't think about her.

My ‘coach officer’ (we called them tutor constables in the UK) Steve Purslow.
A “well hard” guy that stuck it to the bad guys and the next day brought his own tools to put new door locks in for old people.

On the riot line behind a shield he saved my arse.

He died in 1999 of Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 42.

Stepfather, Chief Petty Officer on the Bonnie and worked up north on the icebreakers for Dome petroleum. He would be gone for months at a time but when he came back would show us a grand old time. Showed me as a youngster how to really treat a lady as he treated mom like gold. Many late night games of crib and darts. Died while fixing the roof, fell 4 stores to concrete and face was smashed to hell. It was one of the most horrible things I saw in my life and will haunt me till my dying day.

My best childhood friend, Diane. We did everything together. In highschool, she was my girlfriend. We drifted apart a bit when we went off to different universities, but spoke on the phone once in a while. She developed diabetes at age 23 and became very depressed. I hadn't spoken to her in several months when I got a call from her sister that Diane was missing. We didn't know what happened to her. Her new boyfriend was a real aggressive asshole, so many of us feared the worst. The police directed volunteer grid searches of the wooded areas all around her home. It was really a horrible, aweful situation. About a week after that, her body was found near her grandparents' cottage, where she spent her summers as a kid. She'd, apparently, gone up there by herself, without any insulin, purposely to end her life. I wish I'd been a better friend to her over that last year. When we were, like, 12, she said "Don't you love it when it's a half-moon? It looks like a dime being pushed through the night sky." I think of her every time I look at the moon. She was the kindest person I've ever known.

My Grandmother, Mina. I was only a teenager when she passed and we were so close. She missed the biggest moments in my life, my marriage, my children. I think of her often.

Since no one else posted, I might as well run with this...
Best friend shot himself in the head with a gun he got for his birthday.
I knew the guy when he went to school in Burnaby in grade 6. He was American, born in California but his dad was an Ontario boy who married a US girl. Kind of a jerk but then I was too, so I guess that's why we got along. I got him involved in motorcycles and for some stupid reason, he liked choppers. We'd ride around together, me on a newer sportbike and him on this freak'n old 1945 harley chopper. Kids would wave like the circus was in town. We'd go camping and that always ended up like a cross between woodstock and the Vietnam war.
He tried to join the submarine service but his blood pressure went elvis during basic and he was booted on a medical. I guess he never recovered and it just ate at him.
Some years before, he got a Ihica or SW for his birtday and that added to his collection. It was like a shopping trip to Yegars when we went to visit..
I'd heard later that he was battling depression. He was talking to a shrink and, because his mom was a nurse, dad was an ex-cop, he was just playing with them. All the while he was bookmarking pages in Greys anatomy.

I got the call late at night and it killed me. Later on, his father pick up some kind of blindness, macular degeneration, brought on by stress. It killed him because he was the most well read man I ever knew. Mom soldiers on and she's the toughest person I know. She stays very active with the legion system and we talk politics a lot. Absolute salt of the earth.

My friend lived and died by the freedom that we hold dear. I regret everything and cross examine myself all the time with what I could have done but ulimately, it was his choice to make. He was a selfish fool but he was who he was and we all work with what we know.

Thanks for letting me vent.

A close uncle who passed away during a car accident this past spring. He was very close to me and was always very fun to hang around with. He was too young to go as his daughter (my cousin) was only 17. I always looked forward to seeing him and just talking to him. He also had a very infectious laugh that could be heard from anywhere in the house.

Looks LIke I havent lost the knack of starting a decent thread once in a while, that makes people think.. To those who have posted so far thank you.. I have enjoyed reading the posts so far.. and to those who are waiting... get to it.... These are the kinds of topics I enjoy, where some one would be hard pressed to flame or start crap with other because of a post in the thread..
My Gran Mother (or Nan as we called her) passed. Feb 14th'90 she had just had a pace maker put in and had been beought back to the old folks home she was living in.. seems she trip over an extention cord from a floor polisher and smashed her hip... she lasted about 2 weeks after that..But the stories I heard tell about her... She was a boot legger and one of the first female cab drivers right after the war..I heard stories from my Dad and my Momn and also from some family friends .. One was a local constable who I wont name but he told me some stories from when he was a rookie and he'd be at the Police HQ and my Nan would roll up and deliver a bottle to the Chief's office lol... I saw pics from NAns personel effects after she passed and in nearly every pic there was bottles of booze on the tables and in one pic I remeber 2 cops in uniform sitting in her kitchen..and my Grand dad there also playing his banjo.. The stories... she would sit me on her knee and sing Jumbalaya to me .. and other Hank sr songs.. She passed at 93 yrs old.. Before I left to come back out west we'd play cards and she would allways have a bottle of Coconut rum just for me and she would have a shot of Dekypers Gin as she said it helped with her blood sugar....
Id like to see this thread grow some more.. Sort of a memorial in a way to pople wjo impacted our lives or who were just special...And I doubt any one will even try to start a flame war with any one in this thread
RH

My Dad, Mom, Step-Dad, four brothers, my little sister, grandparents, numerous friends... argued and fought with them all, loved them all. Many happy memories. I don't ever miss an opportunity to tell those still in my life 'I love you'. Miss them all.

At times, I miss my great grandmother... She was fantastic... I was 13 when she died. She was 96... She died in her sleep, just of old age. No illness, nothing. My mom and I used to go there a lot, to the old-peoples-home where she lived for as long as I can remember. I wasn't allowed to go to her funeral (can't remember why though...) and I still regret that...
I also miss my father in law. Fantastic man, who was always busy doing something with his hands. He died 8 years ago, out of the blue, on the tennis court...