Smoked: Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua

Smoked at: My Backyard

Things to value. Friendship, a great cigar, and a bottle of Scotch to share. Found out early this morning that one of my closest friends was found dead in his home earlier this week. It's been a day filled with tears, anger, sadness, confusion and basically the inability to just think. Fittingly, it had been raining all morning, but the skies have cleared this afternoon and is a chilly winter day that reminds me of how he and I would spend time together smoking cigars and drinking a nice Scotch together. This bottle is one of two remaining that he had given to me, we usually were still finishing the last when he would bring me another. His personal favorite, Oban 14. I opened it this afternoon to not drown my sorrows but to celebrate the life of a buddy, who has done so much for his country, for his family, and for his friends. I was fortunate enough to be one of the latter. His smile lit up the room, his handshake and hug could fracture bones. The last time we shared (finished) a similar bottle, he allowed me to wrestle him to the ground in his own backyard and even pin him while onlookers laughed and cheered is on. He whispered to me during that friendly tussle that he'd make it look good, although he could finish me six ways to Sunday. It's a moment that I will cherish in my memories, always. He was an honorable warrior, great friend, and even better father. God bless him and his family. Her certainly was the ipotome of what we should all value.

I'm not writing this flor sympathy, I just needed a place to vent and to share. Something he and I would often do while sharing a fine cigar and a bottle of Scotch.