By Staff
Our friend Craig Harrison died suddenly on Friday, January 29, 2010.  He was just 53.  I'm 55 years old.  I guess I have been blessed in that this is the first time a close friend of mine has died that wasn't a family member.  It has hit us all very hard.
We always wonder when it will be our turn.  We assume it will be much later than it usually occurs.  It is almost always a surprise, if not a shock, when death happens.
Craig, Josh, Howard and I played golf together on an infrequent basis.  Craig and I would play Josh and Howard.  The amount of money was small, but the pride we took in victory was huge.  Defeat took days to get over.  Such was the intensity of our battles.  We loved it.  We enjoyed one another's company and always waited for the next match to be set up.  Now, it will have to wait longer.  Who knew?
I got the word Saturday morning.  I, like all of Craig's friends and family, was stunned.  I immediately thought of Melanie and the kids.  My wife and I talked a lot about it.  She could see it had had an impact on me unlike what she had seen before.
We’ve held each other a little longer with the realization that time won't wait on us. I remember asking her if she new what I loved about her. She asked me what. “The fact that I can't live without you,” I replied. Then I asked her if she knew what I hated most about her.  She looked at me with that strange look she gets when I'm about to say something stupid.  “It's the fact that I can't live without you.”  And it's true.  I have no idea what you do when the most important person in your life is no longer there for the care, comfort, and love that you have enjoyed for so long.
Craig's death has made me realize how tenuous our grip on this life is.  If we can take something from this tragedy it would be this.  Live every day like it is your bucket list because life is way to short to wait. 
I have no idea what to do for a family that has lost its husband and father.  I don't know what to say.  But, I do know how to pray and they are in my daily prayers.  I hope you will keep them in yours as well.
Rick Wilson
Brewton resident