Never hesitate to tell those you love, that you love them!!!
Our times here together are limited after all.
My long time Friend from High School died last night.
Jesse Allen Kicklighter was 2 grades behind me, but we were close friends, it is hard for me to answer the security question "who was your best friend in high school" Allen was at the top of the list, but barely edging out a couple of other friends.
After I graduated, I spent a year bumming around, Allen got a GED diploma and in 1975, we went into the Air Force under the "Buddy System" which guaranteed we would stay together unless one of us flunked our training.
We didn't, and made it together through all the tech schools and TDY Combat Crew trainings together.
After we got to Toostoned AZ (Tucson) he got an apartment off base.
At our end of first hitch, I re-enlisted, he got out and came home, continuing his education.
He eventually became a big time educator, superintendent of a couple of different school systems.
At one point, I played piano for his and wife Gray's wedding. (I was home on leave I think)
They had three sons
As far as anyone knew, their family was happy and well adjusted
That is his mother seated beside him
In something like 2018, I got word that he had "Fatty Liver Cirrhosis" which shocked me; he never did drugs or drank NEARLY as heavily as I did for all those years, but so far, my liver is hanging on.
So that in 2019 (I think) he was on the transplant list here in Atlanta at Piedmont hospital. He had a firm date for the surgery, when suddenly the youngest son committed suicide.
He had to put all that aside to deal with the grieving and burial.
After the surgery, I went and spent some time alone with him, where he expressed his bewilderment, as any parent of a suicide does, wondering what he did or did not do.
↑↑This was post transplant↑↑,
Although being a successful transplant, for some reason, his kidneys never kicked back in and he remained on dialysis until the end, though he had gotten on the kidney transplant list.
I will miss my friend Allen. May he rest in peace
I modified our squadron patch; "The Joker Grieves"
"In Memorium"
Jesse Allen Kicklighter
by
Jerry E Smith
©10/17/2021
Top image original, the rest were gathered from his profile in you know where.