Frank's best friend has died -

Last week brought the news that Gordon McRae, Frank's best friend for about 20 years, died of a sudden heart attack. There wasn't a funeral, because Gordon didn't believe funerals are worth the expense. I can sure see Gordon saying that. Frank, on the other hand, planned his own funeral, down to the detail that Gordon would carry his urn of ashes. Gordon did that twice, first at the Catholic service for Frank in January, and then for his military burial at the Veterans' Cemetery in Augusta, in March.

I love what Gordon said more than once within my earshot over the years. Gordon had won a Purple Heart when he served in Vietnam, during the same years when Frank was a Seabee at Little Creek, Virginia. Gordon said that if he had to go into Vietnam all over again, he'd want no one else but Frank by his side.

So, Gordon is gone. Gordon and Amy had been very good friends to us in Frank's last year. Amy and I got closer, and more importantly, Gordon and Frank got closer. Frank was 61 when he died, and Gordon was 63. They had become friends since the early years of the 20th Maine. They had come to visit Frank at our house in November, in some of the last weeks that he was home.

I last saw both Gordon and Amy in late May, when the 20th Maine came to Cherryfield to dedicate a Veterans' Park by the river. Gordon and the rest of the 20th Maine fired Gordon's cannon ... he rarely went anywhere without his cannon.

It's comforting to think that Frank was "there" to welcome Gordon, wherever "there" is. Frank and Gordon are together again -- I know that. And no doubt they are talking about the Civil War and cannons.