In 1979 I relocated my family from the 3rd “once in a life time blizzard” that engulfed Northwest Indiana to the desert of Arizona,
where snow and allergens that thrive in humidity fear to tread.

It was a bold move relative to my relatives and most of my friends.  (60% of us still live within 30 miles of our high schools).
My father used to say, “there are two places you can go when you die, and I have already been to Arizona”.
But to this 26 year old and his family, this appeared to be the good place,  despite the HEAT.

Motorola had brought us here.  I was to help the NEWLY formed advanced technology team organize and standardize forecasting and budgeting
systems across the division.  After three months in a beautiful new facility, just 3 miles from my home, Motorola Semiconductor reorganized.
I found myself standing in front of THE Financial Pooh Bah for all of Motorola Semiconductor (my boss’ boss’ boss).  He welcomed me, walked over to a Blackboard in his office
and wrote J J A.   “What comes next?”, he asked.  “September, October, November?”,  I replied.   Then he said, ” what?…yes…that’s right…I saw this in magazine and for the life of me
I couldn’t figure it out..well good…I want you to come here and do what your boss was going to do for his division, I just want you to do it for the entire enterprise…was that thunder?…hmm sounded more like an explosion…no just thunder I guess…thanks for coming in…start on Monday” .
At his point I mentally dubbed the man Space Commander  and eventually came up with a Star Trekian salute to be invoked whenever anyone mentioned his name.
So, I left the pristine new facility 3 miles from my home and started work 20 miles away in a 50’s vintage maze of dirty narrow corridors, dim lighting and minimalist office Space.

My first task was to meet with each financial manager within the Enterprise (about 20 or so).  Find out how they were doing forecasting and budgeting and then explain to them
how the NEW guys wanted them to do it.  Fortunately for me, the very first member of the old guard that I met with was Francis “Buddy” Haugh.  In the 1980s Buddy was
the Google AND Facebook of Motorola.  He knew every financial process, and every individual behind them.  He knew and understood the internal politics and market
drivers that brought the NEW guys in.  He advised me on how to handle each manager, what to ask, what not to ask, and how to present the NEW process. But, most importantly, while everyone else seemed to feel the new kid was a threat to their way of doing things, Buddy wanted to know all about ME so he could update his internal database with all the facts and figure out how this could all play out to our mutual benefit.
During one session I accidentally referred to the Head of Finance as the Space Commander, Buddy laughed so hard my old boss, Howard Gentry, walked in to hear the joke.  It was at that point that the three of us, determined we had to have a salute and, suddenly we were REAL friends.

When I heard of Buddy’s passing, I tried to put our relationship in context.  He followed Baseball, I was a football, basketball guy.  He was a stick-it-out-no-matter-what Motorola career man,  I was more of an eyes wide open for greener pastures kind of guy.  He mitigated risk, in everything where I was always ready to take a chance.  He was a dedicated family man, as was I.  His daughter was just 1 year older than my oldest and she went to the same high school as my kids.  On many occasions my wife and I would go out to dinner and a movie with Buddy and his wife.  Our families even celebrated Birthdays and Holidays together, long after I left Motorola.

But the why of our friendship still seemed to elude me.
Yes, I was grateful for all he did for me in my early days at Motorola,  but this was not the stuff of a relationship that spanned nearly 40 years.

I have a few life long friends. and even fewer Adult-Life long friends…Buddy Haugh is not just one of the the latter few, Buddy is more than that…Buddy IS family to me.
While all of us have DNA relations, some of us are lucky enough to have been a part of a different strand of commonality, born out of mutual struggles, victories, joys and sorrows.
While distance and disease have strained to separate us, WE WILL, FOREVER, BE FAMILY.  Rest in peace my brother, your spirit remains with all who knew you.