So I finally found the words to say.  Goodbye.  There's no other word that works even if there is no such thing as a good bye.

We met one very cold night at a Waffle House in Saraland where together we shared the soul-sucking experience of working graveyard shift together.

You'd recently returned home from an extended life away from home and was just getting back on your feet.  It was my 3rd night in town, so I knew nobody.  Only that I needed to work and get paid quick because I had a brother in trouble.

You were my very first friend in Mobile, and you were the last person I saw as I said goodbye to that part of my life.  I still remember seeing you in my rearview mirror bouncing towards your shift donning your uniform as you went as I pulled out of the parking lot of Russo's headed toward my new life.

I sure thought you'd one day come share this life with me.

I don't know how or when, but I know I'll one day see you again.

e