a long time

My it' s been a long time since I' ve posted anything, hasn' t it?
Well, life goes on (or not) and things have been happening. I just haven' t been writing about them!

I recently found out that an old friend from high school passed away. That' s always a sobering thing to hear. Manny Figueroa was on the Columbus High swim team with me for 4 years. We had a great relay team, along with Paco De La Fuente and George Gleber.
I can' t believe he is gone. To me, he' ll always be 17 y. o. and boppin' around in his old black and white '57 corvette.
Heres what his obituary said in the Miami Herald:

Manny Figueroa, accountant, Porsche collector and ``the best of daddies'' died Friday. He was 60; the cause was cancer, his family said. Figueroa called Coral Gables home for his whole life, attending Columbus High School and opening his own accounting firm on Alhambra Circle.
He loved the warm weather, which allowed him to lounge by the swimming pool and walk his huge greater Swiss mountain dogs -- Chester McDougal and Zoey Rose -- who were always pictured on the family's Christmas cards.
Figueroa's clients often became friends, said R. Stuart Huff, who hired Figueroa 35 years ago as his accountant. The two have been friends ever since.
``He had that knack, that so few humans have, of having a sense of humor and an interest in the lives of each person -- and for that matter, their tax situation.''
Born Dec. 12, 1949, Figueroa was the middle of three children. Figueroa went to work at a young age after his father died when he was 6.
His sister, Patricia Figueroa Sowers, remembers her younger brother drawing a chalk line on the sidewalk one day, and charging a toll to all who walked past it.
Figueroa's high school swim coach became a father figure for him, and Figueroa went to Eastern New Mexico University on a swimming scholarship, Sowers said. Figueroa recently was indicted into the Columbus High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Figueroa loved his Porsches -- he owned three at the time of his death. But he also loved his three children and his wife of 18 years, Stefi, who said, ``He was the best of daddies.''
His daughter, Ashley Figueroa Teran, said, ``He would always say, make it an `A' day. He really inspired me to do more and to do my very best. And I always wanted to do that for him.''
Figueroa is survived by his wife, his daughter, his sons Aaron and Stefan and his sisters Patricia Figueroa Sowers and Christine Figueroa.