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lost my best friend

jprather

FBBO Gold Member
FBBO Gold Member
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I lost my best friend of 40 years friday 12/20. It was very sudden and unexpected, believe it was an aneurysm, we had no warning. we met in the fall of 1980, at the time I had no idea that 40 years on we would be closer than any brothers could be, we spoke everyday 3-4 times per day.

he was a very unique person, a very warped sense of humor, hell he swore three way light switches were voodoo !

He is the reason I have my Satellite, he caught the mopar bug at an early age, his dad bought a new 71 Charger r/t when he was 3 years old, and he was hooked on Mopar from then on, got his first 'Cuda ( a 73 ) in 1986 and never looked back. I honestly could not count the mopars he bought an sold.

I wish I could explain to you the closeness we had through out the last 40 years, nothing came between us, not money, cars, politics, or women ( he got divorce 3 times because his wives were jealous of the amount of time we spent together ) it took my wife 10 years to accept our bond. She always said he was my " other spouse " and my son has always called him his 2nd dad

Todd leaves behind a 10 year old son, 2 brothers and his parents.

I have been so blessed to be able to say i had a best friend/brother for 40 years. Not many can say that. at his family's agreement Todd will be buried in the plot next to me, so we can still hang out when it's my time to join him, and wouldnt you know it i will be in the middle between him and my wife.

I posted on here that I am trying to get a "parade of muscle " to send him off with an escort from the funeral home to the cemetery for saturday 11/28. his mother has asked that i drive his prized 71 charger R/t 440/6 to escort him.

anyone in the covington, Ky area that may be avail to join in, please contact me ( pm )

thank you all , I just needed to someone to share this with someone. my life will will never be the same again, and i truly wonder if my soul will ever feel complete again.

Rest in peace my brother

Todd and Jerry 1.jpg 20200613_182232.jpg
958564-04e70f1decda4858c124f1dd98b26701.jpg
 
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Sorry for your loss. May he rest in peace.
 
I am so sorry for your loss. May you find the strength and courage to endure what you must during this difficult time. Best to you, Brian
 
Very difficult to lose the one's we love and care about. My condolences for your loss. I'm sure your buddy would want you to continue on with the things that you shared together, Mopars! Grieve but continue on head up and when you think about him smile and mash the gas pedal. 440'
 
It sounds like you were closer than brothers. We all are going to die but, it doesn't get any easier and we all loose more and more friends as we get older. I'm sure he would want you to continue enjoying our hobby as all of us on this web site do. Stay with us!
Mike
 
What a terrible loss. Nothing feels the same as the loss of a friend or loved one. The empty feelings can cut so deep and leave you uncaring and indifferent to your surroundings for several weeks. Please remember to take care of yourself and family. It can be easy to just drift away and ignore them, yourself and your daily responsibilities. It takes strength to work through this. Best of luck to you.
 
What a terrible loss. Nothing feels the same as the loss of a friend or loved one. The empty feelings can cut so deep and leave you uncaring and indifferent to your surroundings for several weeks. Please remember to take care of yourself and family. It can be easy to just drift away and ignore them, yourself and your daily responsibilities. It takes strength to work through this. Best of luck to you.
The empty feelings can cut so deep and leave you uncaring and indifferent to your surroundings for several weeks
thank you Kerndog, truer words were never spoken !
 
May your friend rest in peace. Do your grieving and get it all out. Only time will take it away, but the fond memories will last forever. May God's peace and grace be with you.
 
Yes, I'm sorry to hear this as well. Most of us can share similar tragic experiences losing a close buddy and this can stay with you forever. Your story reminds me of a friend I lost 10 years ago (hard to believe its been that long) I posted recently and thought I'd paste it below - in the hope that you find you're among company...

I lost a good buddy 10 years ago; he was five years younger than me and a total health nut unlike me, pardoning the times he let that aside for fun. We had an odd history of how we got to know each other, early on as we ended up working together for 15 years and later after we moved onto other jobs, became closer buds. Longer story. At first we thought of each other as ******** we laughed about later and chalked it up to being so much alike in some ways and we were hard competitors relishing one-upping each other at one game or another. We had gone out for a few beers and as usual found stories about **** we encountered mostly to do with horrendous crap we went through when we worked together that got us laughing so much to the point of tears. Then a few days later I get a phone call from a mutual old bud saying "Did you hear about Ralph?" Perplexed by his question, I said not sure what you're talking about. He replied he's dead...he died. Of course I was shocked as hell. He was all of 50 and died instantly from a massive heart attack rumored to be the "widow maker" heart condition. He was a stickler for health check ups, no family history he knew of...was a runner going 5 on mile runs a couple times a week. I mustered up enough to deliver a eulogy at his service that was one of the roughest things to do in front of some 300 people with his wife and two boys in front. I had to rehearse it several times and this worked out to get through it.
I think I must have snagged what they call survivor syndrome as for years I'd have dreams about him and still do I'd say once a week today. Suppose it was the expectation he'd live another 40 years and being younger than me.
 
Yes, I'm sorry to hear this as well. Most of us can share similar tragic experiences losing a close buddy and this can stay with you forever. Your story reminds me of a friend I lost 10 years ago (hard to believe its been that long) I posted recently and thought I'd paste it below - in the hope that you find you're among company...

I lost a good buddy 10 years ago; he was five years younger than me and a total health nut unlike me, pardoning the times he let that aside for fun. We had an odd history of how we got to know each other, early on as we ended up working together for 15 years and later after we moved onto other jobs, became closer buds. Longer story. At first we thought of each other as ******** we laughed about later and chalked it up to being so much alike in some ways and we were hard competitors relishing one-upping each other at one game or another. We had gone out for a few beers and as usual found stories about **** we encountered mostly to do with horrendous crap we went through when we worked together that got us laughing so much to the point of tears. Then a few days later I get a phone call from a mutual old bud saying "Did you hear about Ralph?" Perplexed by his question, I said not sure what you're talking about. He replied he's dead...he died. Of course I was shocked as hell. He was all of 50 and died instantly from a massive heart attack rumored to be the "widow maker" heart condition. He was a stickler for health check ups, no family history he knew of...was a runner going 5 on mile runs a couple times a week. I mustered up enough to deliver a eulogy at his service that was one of the roughest things to do in front of some 300 people with his wife and two boys in front. I had to rehearse it several times and this worked out to get through it.
I think I must have snagged what they call survivor syndrome as for years I'd have dreams about him and still do I'd say once a week today. Suppose it was the expectation he'd live another 40 years and being younger than me.
Ron,

thank you for that, the members here amazing . your story is not too far off of mine, Todd and I were born at the same hospital, delivered by the same doctor 2 weeks apart ( he was 2 weeks older than me ) , we met in the 7th grade . like you we expected to have another 20 years together, were are both 52.

its hard because they will not do an autopsy because of covid and there was no suspect foul play, they say either a massive heart attack or an embolism. so we are left with out an answer, but I guess it really doesnt matter how, he is still gone, and no results can change that.

I remember one day years ago, we were just hanging out, and out no where he says to me " what if we are really two old guys sitting on the porch reminiscing about this and were really not here right now ? " I still think about that.. we were supposed to get old and go around together pissing ppl off with our loud cars and loud opinions .
 
May he RIP

so sorry to hear about the passing of a great friend
my deepest & heartfelt condolences go out to you,
His family & friends

IF I was closer I'd partake in the Parade of Muscle

good luck & best wishes, you are a great friend
 
Good friends are family you can choose.
 
Sorry for your loss. I hit like on your first post because of your great friendship and brother like bond. That is not found very often. God bless you and both of your families.
 
Good friends are family you can choose.
we had that very discussion, about friendship vs brothers, a brother your stuck with no matter what, a friend you stick with no matter what.
 
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