Donald "Donnie" Alan Bachelor

I really don't know why writing this memorial has taken me so long to write for you. It has been almost two years since I lost Donnie and I still haven't written this. Donnie was not only one of my best friends, but was a very special person. Donnie had polio when he was 5 years old. As a child I didn't understand what that meant except I had to have shots so that I didn't get it and I hated shots. It didn't hit home until I saw Donnie in his iron lung and we knew Donnie couldn't play anymore. But none of this stopped Donnie. He finished school, took college classes and had articles published.

They say that when you write a memorial, you write about the special times. But everyday with Donnie was a "Special" time. How do you condense a special life into a paragraph or two.

Do I write about him hiding the chocolate so I wouldn't eat it all while he was in Florida? Maybe I should write about how he helped me deal with a divorce with a "I'm tired of hearing about Pat, Brutus and Frisky" at the breakfast table. There is also the famous call of the "sick cough" that I got from eating too much goulash or when it was time to bale the hay.

I can only write that I was privileged to be his friend. I learned how to aspirate him when he needed it. He also learned to do it himself. There were times I would tease him about picking his beloved the blossoms out of his beloved pumpkin patch so that I could eat fried pumpkin blossoms. We both had an appreciation of the music of Elvis and we shared our loss when he died. He also couldn't get over the fact that I ended up having 9 Bedlington terriers and let them sleep in our bed.

Donnie, I really miss you. My only regret was that I didn't get up t Chicago to see you before you went home to the Lord. But my joy is that you considered me your friend.

I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to you
I can't yet deal with you being gone
Thought I know that it's been almost two years
The grief still tends to be strong

When I visit home, my first thought is I must go see you
Then it dawns on me that you aren't her to see
I just wasn't quite ready to say good-bye to you
I'm finding to say hard to let you go

So as our Lord did for Lazarus, I will weep
But I'll also let the memories flood my heart
Maybe our good times will ease the pain
But I just wasn't ready to say goodbye to you

Dennis Rodgers