No matter how hard I try there are some things I will never understand.

Things like calculus.

Why Peeps need to exist.

The rapid fluxuation of gasoline prices.

The intoxicational quality of charasmatic individuals.

Why good people get cancer.

……….

When I walked inside St. Lawrence Catholic Church there he was. Practicing the song Immanuel with only the pianist in noticable attendance. Michael sang at the baby grand piano with his back to us. His voice a crystal as could be. Hearing it took me back 15 years when he and I used to sing tight harmonies on a Saturday afternoon Mass.  That time was a time of respite I looked forward to. He didn’t know it but several of us were onlookers that morning from the back of the church. Sneaking a peek at our friend practicing a song we have heard him sing dozens of times. But this time was different. During mass, Michael and I sat next to each other surrounded by the choir amidst faces new and old. We caught up, reminisced, exchanged hugs at the Kiss of Peace, and in a Catholic mass that is already too long I didn’t want it to end. For it meant that we’d part ways in the cold December air.

……….

Michael is my brother from another mother.

Michael is a man I love dearly.

Michael is godfather to my youngest son Aaron.

Michael has Cancer.

Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer.

There are some things I will never understand.