Post by sloopjohnc on May 21, 2020 13:35:14 GMT
Last night, I got Facebook Message from an ex-basketball buddy who grew up in my hometown. He was asking if someone he knew that I knew had died because word was getting 'round.
This person that had allegedly died was the brother-in-law of a good friend. I messaged back that I hadn't heard anything but would find out. I called my friend and the news was true. They had discovered Afib six months ago and he had gone in for testing about a month ago. Seems they missed something and my friend's brother-in-law got a blood clot that went to his brain and he got a massive stroke and died two days ago.
I know the family well. Doug, the guy who died had been my friend's older sister's boyfriend. When I was 14, Doug and his friends got my friend and I high for the first time and took us to see Pablo Cruise, who was playing our high school's multi-use room. After the show, Doug gave me his cassette copy of Lou Reed's Rock and Roll Animal because I had liked it so much listening to it in the car.
The guy had a mixed reputation though. He was a wonderful athlete and was all-league in football and baseball, and played Division I football in college. But he was kind of a hard case too, picking on people, but I never saw that side to him. He was always great to me. My friend, who originally messaged me, said Doug came up to him years ago and apologized for being such a jerk when he was younger.
I even worked at my friend's and his fire supply business summers in college. A year ago, Doug recognized me on the sidewalk in my hometown and said, "Hi," and we talked a bit about things. He had four sons and he was looking forward to retiring this year. His sons were mostly married and he and his wife were looking forward to spending time with the grandkids and travel a bit. The future looked great.
And now it doesn't. My friend asked me if I wanted to go to the funeral service once stuff opens up and I said I would.
Last night, I started thinking back about how much stuff and how much contact I'd had with this tangential person and my life and I couldn't stop thinking about how many degrees of connection there were with people in my hometown. It's great to have that, but it sucks when someone you know dies. It reminds me that we're getting to that age, my friends and I.
This person that had allegedly died was the brother-in-law of a good friend. I messaged back that I hadn't heard anything but would find out. I called my friend and the news was true. They had discovered Afib six months ago and he had gone in for testing about a month ago. Seems they missed something and my friend's brother-in-law got a blood clot that went to his brain and he got a massive stroke and died two days ago.
I know the family well. Doug, the guy who died had been my friend's older sister's boyfriend. When I was 14, Doug and his friends got my friend and I high for the first time and took us to see Pablo Cruise, who was playing our high school's multi-use room. After the show, Doug gave me his cassette copy of Lou Reed's Rock and Roll Animal because I had liked it so much listening to it in the car.
The guy had a mixed reputation though. He was a wonderful athlete and was all-league in football and baseball, and played Division I football in college. But he was kind of a hard case too, picking on people, but I never saw that side to him. He was always great to me. My friend, who originally messaged me, said Doug came up to him years ago and apologized for being such a jerk when he was younger.
I even worked at my friend's and his fire supply business summers in college. A year ago, Doug recognized me on the sidewalk in my hometown and said, "Hi," and we talked a bit about things. He had four sons and he was looking forward to retiring this year. His sons were mostly married and he and his wife were looking forward to spending time with the grandkids and travel a bit. The future looked great.
And now it doesn't. My friend asked me if I wanted to go to the funeral service once stuff opens up and I said I would.
Last night, I started thinking back about how much stuff and how much contact I'd had with this tangential person and my life and I couldn't stop thinking about how many degrees of connection there were with people in my hometown. It's great to have that, but it sucks when someone you know dies. It reminds me that we're getting to that age, my friends and I.