[This is a follow-up to my story about the surprise birthday party for my friend Frank.]
Frank was a selfish man, a good lawyer, a moody, intelligent, complicated guy. I used to kid that he had clenched hair. I met him on the first work day of January 1972. We were introduced while standing on the corner by the courthouse. While we stood there, a bird crapped on the shoulder of his brand new suit.
He made lots of money and lived high off the hog: big fancy home; big fancy car; big expensive boat; etc. He and I were very different people but I recognized that he needed a friend and I became that friend. It only lasted a couple of years. My wife became prego, we decided we didn’t wish to raise a child where we were, and so we pulled up stakes and headed north. I visited back there twice but we had drifted apart by then and, besides, I was never into his life style.
I said that he was a selfish man. The day came when he had the opportunity to do something extremely unselfish for a friend & he didn’t let the friend down. He was a match and he agreed to donate a kidney. They were rolled into the OR. I found out all this much later. Something went terribly wrong; the friend got a good kidney from Frank, but Frank suffered brain damage. This intelligent, vital, productive man was never the same. He died a couple of years later.
I was attending to my client in north Florida when I got a phone call. As soon as the secretary told me who was calling, I knew. “When is the funeral?” I asked him. “In two hours.” Since I was at the opposite end of the State of Florida, I couldn’t attend.
Despite all Frank’s professional success, a bird had crapped on him again. I think about my friend Frank often. Our short time together was good for both of us. I miss him a lot.