Well pholks, I really do feel confident that 2007 will be a good year, although it did start on a very sad note for me.

I lost a good friend, a friend who I hadn't made contact with in probably 10 years even though he lived and worked in Visalia for about 35 years.

Jim Thomas was a school teacher, husband, father and grandfather. He was good at all of them.

He was a high school friend from Oakdale, a college roommate at Fresno State and best buddy in Visalia for a number of years.

Jim was 64 when he died two weeks ago, about four days after becoming seriously ill after more than four years with Alzheimer's which forced his retirement before he was ready.

As we get into our senior years the funerals just seem to come more frequently with special friends and family members passing. But when loved ones and special pholks in your life die far too young it has even more personal impact.

Jim was the Best Man at my first marriage and I was in his wedding party.

It seems that after each of us married, in our early to mid-30s, we drifted apart. That, to me, was a mistake which I often thought about but did little, if anything, to fix. As we all should remember, “Tomorrow Is Never Promised.”

Jim Thomas was a good guy. He should have been a good guy for a lot more years, but as we all know, that is not in our power.

At Jim's memorial service I saw his brother, Donald, who was in my Oakdale High School Class of 1962. I hadn't seen him for at least 30 years. Jim was in the Class of 1960, but we really become close at Modesto Junior College after he served a stint in the Peace Corp in Colombia. Jim then enrolled at Fresno State a semester after I transferred there.

It was a FSU where we and two other friends roomed together. We all graduated but not before a number of adventures unfolded. Jim was two years older than the rest of us and he smoked a pipe, often while studying, creating sort of a “more mature” image than his younger roommates.

College degrees are great things to have but college life is something which has its own rewards. Surviving academically is of prime importance, but learning about life and becoming independent and hopefully more mature must not be overlooked. Granted, some of the events and actions Jim, Tim and Roger and I experienced may not have been all that mature, but we survived, didn't get arrested, didn't get any girls in trouble, expelled, or put on the FBI's Most Wanted List. Tim and Roger were fraternity guys. Jim and I were not, a fact which was woven into our college roommate lifestyle.

College adventures will fill a couple of chapters in that book I vow to write. Jim Thomas will be a main character, I guarantee.

After college Jim and I took a couple of trips, the most notable were to Washington, Oregon and Northern California and “Colorado Trip.” The Great Northwest Adventure featured a stop at what became known “Big Rock, Oregon,” where fishing was supposed to be great. The “rock” really wasn't that big and I think the fishing sucked.

The “Colorado Trip” featured Jim and I in his orange two-seater MGB convertible.

That trip was launched at night after pork and egg fu young sandwiches at Willie Lum's Hong Kong in Visalia, our favorite watering hole and included a three-hour stay in Las Vegas followed by stops at the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, the Royal Gorge (renamed the Royal ….'ng Gouge) Estes Park, and a steak house called the Wagon Wheel (same as in Visalia) which featured a bar/aquarium containing live salmon which looked up at us as we enjoyed a cocktail or two. We were treated well by the restaurant's female bartender, sort of a new experience for two California guys since Tulare County and most of California didn't have any of those.

We traveled pretty light with only sleeping bags, a few utensils, a coffee pot, a couple changes of clothes and even fishing gear. It was a so-called fishing trip but actually more sightseeing and spontaneous adventure.

We had no trip agenda and more than once decided our direction on the outcome of a coin flip. The best way to travel and a pattern my wife, Kathy, and I thoroughly enjoyed on our honeymoon to Colorado, Zion, the Grand Canyon and a few added locations. Kathy and I still try to travel that way whenever possible.

I will continue to relate some of the good times my buddy and I shared and will try a little harder to keep in touch with Jim's family.

My friend Jim is gone from this life but I'm pretty confident we will meet again. It's not likely we'll go back to “Big Rock, Ore.,” or get around in an orange MGB convertible, but we'll have lots to talk about.

Miles can be reached at mshuper@valleyvoicenewspaper.com