You will be missed....

A friend of mine killed himself on Tuesday. He was 50 years old. I hadn't spoken to him for a few years and now, I feel just terrible about that.

I met G at a picnic in 1998, a picnic that was held in the same park he took his life. We spent most of the evening talking to each other and a few days later, I called him and invited him to lunch. He accepted. We then started going to movies and just generally hanging out. I have to admit that I started to develop feelings for him, but they were not reciprocated. However, we did manage to stay friends. I know he struggled with depression and had been on medication, but he always had a smile for me, or a hug, or just a friendly voice. He loved to golf, watch movies - he had a great home theater system, we liked to get a pizza and watch dvds. He would come over sometimes for dinner -- I love to cook for someone-- he and Tb got along great. G was about 6'5" and Tb has been 6' since jr high - I always felt like a weeble when we would all go somewhere together. The last movie we went to see in the theater was Oh, Brother Where Art Thou? I will never forget that night....he laughed so hard, he was crying. It will now be a memory I can cherish. The last time we talked was 2002. I had lost my job and was calling anybody and everybody I knew for leads. And we saw each other a couple of times after that at the grocery store. The last time I saw him....I was at the drive through at Wendy's and he was across the street walking into pizza hut. I was going to go over and say hello, but my food took forever and by the time I could leave...he had left with his order. I'm pretty sure that spicy chicken sandwich just wasn't worth the wait now.

Good-bye my friend. I hope you are in a better place.