I wish I had the exact date and time I met Gerald Joseph Miller. It is one of those things you put into a category of being aware of every detail but! I cannot be that precise. I believe it was in 1998 and I do know it was summer. He had just gotten his new race car! as his reward for retiring from teaching. Some fancy green hue of course being that was his favorite color. Mine too by the way; one of many things we laughed at having in common.

Ironically, we met over the Internet. Nope! not what you think but because of a reference I made to my doctor who wore Hawaiian shirts and pc glasses in an email to a newsgroup. Little did I no that when he wrote me in response to that email, I would find him in Pflugerville and he me in Austin sharing the same doctor and many of the same health issues and life experiences.

We agreed to meet at a transplant recipient support group meeting and it was love at first bite. Members of that same group are here today and will tell you that when Jerry and I were together our relationship could run the gamut from a comedy routine resembling Burns and Allen to one of the Honeymooners. We did NOT always agree - especially politically - but even when we got into yelling we always ended up still caring for each other.

However! make no mistake, he drove me crazy! he was a total pack rat, kept everything, every picture, every thing he ever had when he was teaching; but as with most hyper intelligent people, he felt he had a system and you were NOT supposed to mess with it! I have forgotten how many cleaning ladies were "fired" because they messed with his stuff.

He loved candles and dogs. He loved shrimp and lobster being from Connecticut but he definitely loved Tex Mex and Texas barbecue too. and of course, Italian.

We cheered the Longhorns with him, Fred and me, but he could get totally lost in the Grand Prix, the Tour de France or the Olympics. I would call him just to make sure he took a break from TV to eat, sleep or take a shower.

He was very competitive and gave me some grudging admiration for being able to keep up with him on music, movie and TV. trivia. We kept ourselves entertained while driving by quoting lines from some favorite movies, especially Mel Brooks, Monty Python and Young Frankenstein.

We loved coffee ice cream.

What he truly loved most was his family, especially his children. he told me one of the best feelings he ever had was when Sean was named to the Texas All Star Lacrosse team followed by the happiness he felt when Sean married Jennifer. As an aside, the only thing he did NOT like about Jennifer was her car. some little thing with no umph! he groused. He was never more proud than when he gave his special girl, his board game partner Beth away to Billy who he thought of as another son, in marriage.

he believed his success came from knowing both of his children were kind, honest and successful people in their own lives.

I called him Miller to honor his Navy days. He called me Scott or Kake to keep it simple.

He was my BFF and I loved him.

And I have no doubt he is challenging God for the remote control.

And so In the words of Bugs Bunny, "Bone voyahgee moan amy!"

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