Missed Opportunities

My senior year of high school I started dating this guy who had the coolest brother. He was five years older than us, so he always bought us beer, and he was THE party hookup. We generally hung out with he and his friends a lot. I introduced him to one of my friends who he subsequently married... and although his brother and I didn't make it to 3 years, and he and my girlfriend divorced a few years later, we remained friendly. I hadn't seen him for at least a decade when I saw him at a local gas station - he was a few people ahead of me in line, but I could tell from the back it was him. He turned around and we made eye contact - I am fairly certain he recognized me but didn't say a word, and neither did I. As soon as he left I regretted it. Why didn't I say anything? I'd seen him driving away from the gas pumps before actually seeing him in the store, so I figured he must live nearby and vowed that when I saw him again I'd stop being such a chickenshit and start a conversation. That was a few months ago, and I hadn't seen him.... and then I read the obituaries this morning. He passed away last week. My heart sank. He left behind a teenage daughter from that marriage, and I just can't even imagine what she's going through.

Missed opportunities don't always come around again.