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John Filion saw his old friend Rob Ford one last time in October. The two served together on city council for years, before the crack and the scandal and the worldwide news, and despite their many differences, they always got along.

Rob Ford represented the right wing on council, Filion the left. But they liked each other anyway. They could talk football and life and on all the rest, they’d agree to disagree.

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“Doug (Ford) always used to say ‘I don’t f—ing understand it,'” Filion said.

On that day in October, Filion went to Ford’s office in City Hall and gave him the winnings from their weekly football pool. Ford invited him to sit and they talked. He looked clearheaded and happy, Filion said, like he hadn’t in years.

“I said to him at one point, ‘Rob, you seem to be completely different.’ And he said ‘Yeah, I am. … I’m feeling great and ready to take on the world again and do it better than I did before.'”