Speechless

I had planned on posting something else today but changed my mind after Wednesday afternoon. Damn the internet!

Over an eight year span I used to hang out with this guy -- usually when I was between boyfriends. No one could understand why I didn't just date him but I think he wasn't really into commitment. Our arrangement worked just fine. Somehow he magically knew when I had just broken up with some guy and would call to ask me out. The last time I spoke to him was back in 2002, right after I decided to go into teaching. He was recovering from a motorcycle accident.

About a year ago, I realized that I hadn't talked to him in some time and tried to call. I was told he was no longer at that phone number. Seemed kind of strange at the time because I was sure that if he had changed his number, he would have told me. I didn't ask anything more of the person on the other end and hung up.

A few days later it dawned on me that he had probably died, mostly due to his line of work. I kept meaning to search the newspaper archives but would always think of this when I wasn't at a computer. Wednesday afternoon was kind of slow at work so I decided to do the search. It confirmed what I already knew; he died in 2003. He wasn't much older than I.

At least I know that he didn't just move without telling me (like another one of my friends just did recently). It's just kind of weird that the person who I knew I could always count on is no longer around. I guess I'm going to have to find some other guy who will randomly show up at my favorite bars and drag me out when he thinks I've had too many cocktails.