We drove at a breakneck speed to get to Fresno to see Nolan. His wife told us he had gone into a coma but was occasionally lucid enough to recognize a friendly face. I had known Nolan since we both were 13 years old in Pearl City. We lived on Hoohaku Street along with Gary Lee and Randy Hiraki . . well, technically, Randy was on Hoohaku Place, but leave us not quibble 😊 .
So we raced along so we could see Nolan before he passed. Lompoc to Fresno was 4 hours. When we got there, we spent thirty minutes searching for the hospital, no Google maps in those days.
I raced up the stairs only to find that he had passed five minutes earlier.
His wife said that before he died he awoke and was lucid for about twenty minutes . . then he closed his eyes and passed on. I was sorry I missed his final moments.
That was six years ago.
The time to live and love is now while the iron is hot.