The importance of staying in touch: a personal story

By Robert C. Kennedy

I lost a good friend a few days ago. We first met in sixth grade as basketball rivals. Well, I probably can’t call it a rivalry because Sacred Heart beat us every game, year after year. After one of those losses, he and one of his teammates came over to where I was watching the varsity game and he asked me if I wanted to walk with them to the corner drug store to get a can of pop (or soda, for you non-Pittsburghers).

I was blown away by that. We were supposed to be mortal enemies, yet here he was with an invitation. At that moment, on that trip to the store, we became friends. He may have become my first friend that wasn’t from Saint Bede (my school) or from the neighborhood.

We went to high school together and ran in the same circles. Back then we were friends, but more in the big group sort of way, intersecting around football and basketball, and around the keg parties on the Schenley Park golf course or the Wall in Frick Park. If I was at a party, more than likely so was he. After high school, he went to Duquesne with a bunch of our high school friends. I went to Carnegie-Mellon, with another group of our classmates. 

It was after we both graduated that we became close. We coached grade school football together. We did vacations together. We both got married and our spouses became friends. We went on more vacations. He and his wife were there the first and last time I ever went camping. It was memorable because I got food poisoning and vomited (loudly) all night long. Not even the bears slept that night. 

Now, as I ponder our memories with other friends, there is a strong theme of how great he was to be around. “His laugh was big,” they said. When I think back on the times we had and I visualize him, there is always a smile or a hardy laugh. I can’t imagine him otherwise. I have said on occasion that a person is lucky if they befriend just one special person who, try as you may, or as your friends may, just can’t find anything bad to say about him. He was one of those rare people.  

I very much enjoyed having him as part of my life. But eventually he and his family moved away, and we lost touch. Life happens, as they say. We would see each other at the occasional high school reunion and promise to re-engage but we didn’t. I always regretted that. I wish I had one more laugh with him.

Why do I write this in a newsletter about supply chain? Because it’s important in any facet of life, professional or personal, to stay in touch with the people who have shared the journey, however long ago your paths ran together. Life really is short – there’s more meaning in that phrase the older I get. Life is precious. Friends and family are what it’s all about. 

So, pick up the phone, call someone you haven’t talked to in a while. Then call another. Ask them to go get a pop with you.