Yesterday, was the 10th anniversary of the death of my best friend. Bill Walter and I met the first day of school in 9th grade at Campbell Jr. High School in Daytona Beach, FL. We clicked almost immediately and for next 22 years, we were the best of friends. We surfed together, we skied at his parents lake house, we swam on the high school swim team at Spruce Creek High School and we worked at Treasure Island Inn together as bus boys. We took trips together, we dreamed together, we laughed together and we were best men in each others weddings. I wish there was a way to tell you all the awesome things about Bill. His widow Kathy, his parents Bill and Pat, his brother John and his many friends would agree with my comments about Bill’s love of life, his caring nature, his incredible attitude and his sense of humor (see picture below).  I loved him like a brother and miss him as much today as I did ten years ago today, the day after his death.

Recently, I was going through some old letters and found a card Bill had sent me. Fortunately, I save things that have meaning to me because reading it made me treasure how beautiful it is to have deep friendships. It’s one of the richest things in life. Here’s an exert from the card he sent me almost twenty years ago.

It seems like from the very start, we have always communicated with each other in ways I’ve never communicated with others. We’ve talked about things and share stories and feelings that never were to be shared again. Tim, I consider you my best friend and I want you to know that I care about you more than you will ever know. You are an inspiration to me, and whenever I talk about you to anyone else, I know that I radiate how proud that I am to be your friend.

I was fortunate to have “accidentally” sat down at a table in the school lunch room with Bill. I was fortunate to have him as a best friend for 22 years. I was fortunate to be able to tell him before he passed away what his friendship meant to me. I hope you are as blessed to have had a friendship like the one Bill and I had. In today’s world of Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and more, I encourage you to reach out to a friend by writing a good old fashioned letter in your own handwriting. Tell that person what they mean to you as you never know when they will re-read your words and treasure them like I did when I read Bill’s card.

Note: This photograph (Bill, his son, his brother and me) was taken just before he lost all his hair because of chemotherapy. Even though he knew what the result of having level 5 melanoma was, he still had a great sense of humor and was always looking for something funny to do or a way to make others laugh. We laughed so hard that day which kept us from crying.

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, healthcare, and financial services. He is founder of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com