There's this special guy named Lukie...

When I was much younger I thought that the more friends that I had the more popular that I was. It was pretty cool being in high school and thinking that you had a huge group of friends. There were different personalities and that seemed to make things more fun.
The older that I have gotten though the more I have realized that the importance of friendship is not in the quantity of friends that you have, but rather in the quality of friends that you have. I have come to the realization that the actual amount of real friends that I have…well….I could probably fit all of them into a closet. There are those friends that you see out and about and usually catch up on each other’s lives in 15 minutes. There are those that randomly call of the blue just because they were thinking of you. There are those (unfortunately) that you hear from ONLY when they want something. You have those people that you have formed friendships with years ago that drift in and out of your life and with each encounter nothing has changed – you still have that same bond. Then you have that random special kind of friend that you meet, you never see each other a lot – but when you do they have this smile that lets you know that your friendship means something to them. I have been blessed in my life to have a few like that; one of those is named Lukie. No matter where I have seen him he has had this smile – this exceptionally special kind of smile that always made you glad that your paths crossed on that day. 
Sadly Lukie is very sick and I’m not sure what God’s plans are for him. When the prognosis came down and the word spread that he wasn’t doing well at all, well there were a lot of thoughts that crossed my mind. The one that occupies my head the most though is thinking about how I never told him what a special person that he is. Some would say that we are just acquaintances…we don’t hang out, never associated in public places like functions or restaurants, didn’t go to school together….we just met one day him doing his job and me doing mine. I remember when he left I thought “well that was a very nice man.” Through the years we have encountered each other when our work paths crossed, when we ran into each other’s family at the local Wal-Mart…you know things like that. The thing about Lukie that makes him different from a lot of people, myself included, is that every time you saw him no matter where it was, he had that famous smile.  No matter what life may or may not have been dealing him that smile was there. Even now in what would be a regular person's darkest hour he still smiles and even more importantly he says "I have had a great life and I'm ready to go". Wow! To know that you have lived a good life and that the end may be near he's smiling and positive. What an inspiration he is. 
I wish that I had taken the time out of my busy day the last time I saw him to just say how much I appreciated his smile and his constant kindness. This is what people mean when they say don't wait - tell people now how you feel. 
My dad always thought a lot of his friendships in life, but he always used to tell me "Sis it doesn't matter how many friends you have in life. Life can't be measured by that. What matters though is will you have enough friends to carry you in the end?" I have never forgotten that and it has helped me to realize that even if I can only count my true friends on my hands, at least there will be 6 in the end. 
Lukie is the person that when it comes time to leave this world, whether it be tomorrow or 10 years from now will have no problem gathering enough together to carry him in the end. That's just the kind of guy he is. 
Lukie thank you for making my life more beautiful just by the occasional blessing of seeing your smile and experiencing your kindness.