The first time Jacob Will saw Hannah, Brienne of Tarth from the Game of Thrones TV series came to mind: not so much the perpetual scowl but her countenance. Uncommonly tall, uncommonly beautiful, and a dazzling smile. But why was she with an older, a much older man? And in Key West. All of it seemed unlikely.
And like Jaime Lannister, Jacob would be smitten too and it would change his life forever. But that wouldn’t happen until he had committed his own eleven little deaths.
Jacob Will was never big on religion, not that he wasn’t exposed to it. At some point, it didn’t “take.” Maybe it was the glut of televangelists on TV that turned him off. So going into a church for his best friend’s funeral was not high on his list, bucket or otherwise.
And a conversation with the minister afterwards was completely unexpected. What made it more so was the life-altering effect it was to have on him.
Had he given it any thought, the lyrics from an R.E.M. song, Losing My Religion might have resonated with him.
A friend’s influence can last forever.
Bruce Meisterman 