I sing this a lot, for friends alive, and friends gone. Sang it for Helen Schneyer's memorial service in 2005, and for Lee Haggerty's memorial a few years earlier. Led it with Caroline Paton at a NEFFA workshop remembering Sandy Paton. Never get tired of it, so I'm singing it now, with love for Kat, who was my "Kat-kin" on Mudcat. We corresponded here, and she got her special nickname when we decided we really must must be family.

Total Strangers, by Alan Bell

When first we met, we were total strangers.
We didn't know if we could be friends.
How soon we came to love each other.
Now I know we will meet again.

Chorus:
So here's to you, and our time together.
I'll share with you now a parting glass,
And bid farewell, with a smile and laughter.
Our time apart will be short, and pass.

We talked of dreams, and the good tomorrows,
Of yesterdays with their dark despair.
We've had our share of joys and sorrows.
Now we part, as friends who care.

A long, long road now winds before me,
And fate may take me where it will.
Through deep valleys, and over mountains.
I'll not forget. I'll remember you still.