Lost a Friend

I mentioned in my last post that I only write blogs when something out of the ordinary happens. Well today I lost my best friend, I guess that qualifies. Scott David Turnbull passed away yesterday, presumably due to complications from Diabetes. I could tell you all kinds of facts about Scott, but that would never do him justice. Being that this is my blog and is meant to be more of a catharsis for me than it is an obituary, I'll just talk about the kind of guy he was and why he meant so much to me.
Scott was a very emotional and passionate person, he was almost completely right brained. He had a tendency to live for the moment, which of course may help explain his resistance to taking care of his Diabetes.
I first met Scott while singing with the Washtenaw County Friends of the Chord, a barbershop chorus. We were casual friends and I didn't really know him that well yet. One day he showed up to the chorus with three other guys from college. They called themselves "The Ivy League" I was enamored with them immediately. In conversation I mentioned to him that I would love to be in a quartet like his some day. As it turned out I got the chance the next fall. Some of the happiest moments of my life was when I was with those guys. We sang together for the next 9 years. I grew to love all the guys in the quartet, but Scott and I seemed to have a special bond. We wound up as roomies his last year of college and I always roomed with him on quartet gigs. We usually wound up talking and laughing till all hours of the morning. In retrospect, I try to figure out why I was so close to Scott. Those of you that knew Scott can attest to the fact that it wasn't alway fun or pleasant to be in his company. Scott's emotions ran strong in both directions, I guess I can leave it at that. I think the reason I loved Scott so much was because with Scott, you always got the real deal. He was never afraid to tell you what he really thought,good or bad. And he was the one guy in my life that I could be absolutely honest with, and never worried about being judged. Here is a quote from the show Boston Legal that can pretty much sum up mine and Scotts relationship. If you aren't familiar with the show, Denny Crane and Alan Shore are best friends and they always have a scene on the balcony at the end of the show.

Denny: There are many ways that men go dead as they age. One way ... they start incorporating all the learned politically-correct behavior and thoughts into who they are, in the process deny what they are.
Alan: What are we?
Denny: Animals.
Denny: Today's evolved men talk to each other about politics, kids and education. They talk about anything and everything, yet they are profoundly lonely. Why? Because they are ashamed to share their most base instinct.
Denny: You and I aren't like that. When we're 90, we'll be sitting on a park bench, pretty girl go by, and we'll say "look at the rack on that one". You and I will never be lonely.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Boston_Legal"

Nobody that really knows me will be shocked by this, well maybe some people from my church....no, they won't either. That is the kind of relationship that Scott and I had, and I never felt that kind of lonliness with Scott because I could be who I really am, or I could at least release that part of my personality. Yes, through the years I have tried to evolve into a more respectable version of myself, but it was always nice to have that one guy that I could revert to my inner beast with. I hope that none of my other friends take this as saying that I don't enjoy or treasure their friendship because they may not see that side of me. That is simply not the case, I have a lot of truly great friends and I cherish them all. Maybe it's not good to allow that side of me so much air. I just know that I will miss every thing about Scott. I am thankfull to God for every second of my life that I spent with him and I'll miss him for the rest of my days.