In life, I have found that there are some people that come in for a season and then go on their way. For my dad, his best friend, Steve was the opposite of that. Friends since they were little kids, getting in trouble together. Friends through young adulthood, still mostly getting in trouble together. Steve and his (then) wife introduced my parents, who married 6 months later. Friends through raising kids. Some of my fondest memories include their family and ours, all together for dinners and summer nights spent swimming and laughing, either at their home in Fort Mill or ours in Mint Hill. The stories these two could tell were unreal and would have you crying from laughing so hard. Never a dull moment with them. Nearly two years ago when my dad was fighting for his life during a month long stay in ICU, Steve came to be by his side and to be there for Matthew and I. Lifelong friends. My dad is once again healthy and back home, but now Steve has been fighting for his own life for nearly two months. Today the news is not good. Hours, maybe a day, is what the doctors are giving him. He’s being transferred to hospice and being made comfortable with morphine. My heart is broken. Steve was, for so many years, like another dad to me. Our families were so close. His daughter and son were like my own siblings. They are people that I will hold very dear to my heart for the rest of my days. I am heartbroken, not just at my own loss of this man, but at the devastation my dad will feel and the heartbreak of Steve’s family. Jamie & Steven and both of your families, please know we love you and your mom and your dad so much, and we will carry him in our hearts forever. ðŸ'-