Today is the Memorial Service for one of my dear friends, Avery Clayton who passed away on Thanksgiving Day 2009.

Avery Clayton was a wise and wonderful man.

He was an amazingly talented artist, a teacher, a loving friend.

Dr. Martin Luther King as painted by Avery Clayton

Avery’s passing is a great loss to the world. He has left us, too soon.

Avery was recently named the CEO of the Western States Black Research and Education Center. The WSBREC will soon begin building the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum in Culver City. Dr. Mayme Clayton was Avery’s Mother…a brilliant woman in her own right. This library will be an amazing place for teachers to take their students, and for families to take their children. A place with works of art dedicated to keeping the beauty of the African-American culture alive for all future generations to treasure and enjoy.

But that’s not why I’m writing today. I’m writing today to say that I missed the chance to enjoy a visit with my friend Avery,a couple of months ago. A visit I postponed, because I thought I had all the time in the world. All the time in the world to catch up with my friend, talk about his current journey,  joys, and frustrations. A time to share a cup of coffee, throw our heads back and laugh at the ills of the world! Laugh, because that’s what Avery and I did a lot…we laughed! Laughed at lots of things…big and small.

Avery knew how to laugh out loud and find joy in the small stuff.

Like the time when he worked as my behavioral assistant in a school in Pasadena Unified, where I was the Principal and we found some of our sixth grade kids smoking on the playground. Yup, that’s right. On the playground! Never a dull moment in those days…

And through it all Avery continued to keep his cool, and deal calmly with the needs of our students, even when their parents were fit to be tied!

Seated here in front of a painting he did of his Mother, Mayme, you can feel his warmth. A warmth of spirit that will be deeply missed by many.

I missed a visit to share a wonderful time with my friend, not knowing that soon he would be taken from me. That I would never be able to see him again, or share a cup of coffee with him, or laugh till the tears were streaming down our faces!

I missed a visit with my friend for the simple reason that I thought I had more time. And now…it’s going to take some time, to let that go. I miss my friend so much…

So the message I’m sharing today is…don’t wait for more time to see your friends. Don’t wait for a better time, an easier time…the best time is now, to make that call, visit your friends, and take the time, to reach out to love them.