SADNESS

 I'm attending a funeral today.  It is the fourth friend/classmate who died in the last month.  I guess it comes with my age.  

First there was Terry Merrill.  He was behind me a year in school.  We played football together in grade school and basketball against our rivals on the south end of Norwood.  

Next came John Cunningham; maybe the smartest or at least most 'well read' guy I ever knew.  We took all the same classes together at Purcell.  He was a real character.  With a law degree from Michigan, he worked for the government in Alaska solving work issues.  

A few days later, Tom "Topper" Tepe passed away.  He was a South Norwood guy, a football player who became a practicing lawyer.  

Now comes another classmate, Rick Puthoff.  He married my wife's cousin; I was in his wedding.  After serving in Vietnam, Rick became a cop in Cincinnati and then security head at General Electric Evendale.  

That's who they were - they all left family.  That's the real shame.  I pray they all rest in peace.

I could use a break from news like this.