Kyle

Whatyoudontknow.The other night, I was getting ready to go out, and decided to give the email a check. I found this:

Anyway, I am writing to let you know that Kyle died of lung cancer earlier this week. The obit was in todays paper. I think the funeral is tomorrow. He had undergone only one chemo treatment. He was upgraded a few weeks ago to have a chance. Sorry, but this is all I know. Thought I should tell you.

Kyle Jarrell was from West Virginia. After a visit with the Air Force, he settled in Atlanta. This was in the late 60's. He had many stories about the nightlife he found.
He got a job as a draftsman with an engineering firm, and did that for many years. Along the way he got married and bought a house in Stone Mountain. After the draftsman job ended, he did several things, before winding up as my co worker.
At "Ammonia Blueprint" we print construction documents. Kyle operated one machine, I operated the other. There was a lot of cooperation and teamwork involved. Kyle was a team player.
Both our machines had strengths and weaknesses, and we learned how exploit the strengths and work around the weaknesses. After a while it was almost automatic.
Kyle was an excellent person to work with. He was quiet, diligent, careful, and hard working. He did not make trouble.
With his engineering background, he was fun to have around. I would notice things about jobs, and Kyle was an appreciative audience for my observations.
Yes, he was an enthusiastic smoker. This was always outside, so I was not directly involved. I do regret that it took some time off his life.
Every morning, I would leave the train station to start my walk down West Peachtree Street to the job. Kyle would be on the sidewalk smoking a cigarette. I would say hello, he would say hello, and I continued to walk. We were going to spend all day together.
You don’t know what you’ve got until it is gone.