Reflecting on time spent with the real friends in one's life

This Labor Day weekend offered up a little bit of everything.

There was some family and fun time. I tinkered and got caught up on all kinds of nagging little projects. Worked a little, too, getting up close and personal — as much as the side judge at Eastern Washington University’s football game Saturday would allow — to shoot photos.

The weekend concluded Monday, however, on a bit of a somber note with a memorial service for the mother of a friend. She had recently passed away at age 81, finally free of the ravages of Alzheimer’s.

Following a private family graveside service earlier that day,...