Aloha Bud...

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Bud, died yesterday. Bud and his wife traveled on many trips with us when my kids were little...our weeks in New York and Hawaii being the most memorable. Bud made us laugh...mostly because he was laughing so hard at himself...he could not tell a joke or a story without laughing and hardly being able to finish...
This photo is probably the MOST repeated "Bud Story" of all time...every time my kids mention Bud, they mention the time "Bud played the palm tree." We were in Hawaii and a live band was playing...Bud (having had a tad too much to drink) "joined" the band pretending the palm tree was a bass...he played that tree for quite a while...Bud smiled and laughed and had us all rolling the entire time!
Bud and his wife, Diana were like family to us and loved my kids as if they were...Once Bud retired, he spent most of his mornings sitting at the Coco's counter solving the issues of the world. He liked cold butter with his raisin toast and I obliged him each day by going to the walk in and getting the hardest butter available. "Hard Butter Bud" was his affectionate counter creature name.
I had not seen Bud since Christmas, though we had planned many times for the three of us to get together.

Bud's sudden death is a HUGE reminder to LIVE life...LOVE life....and LAUGH a lot!! It is truly all too short...