A Farewell to a Friend...
Jan. 27th, 2006 10:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kybearfuzzFor all of the ups and downs that come in my daily life, I do enjoy it. I may bitch and moan, wish for 10 minutes more sleep in the morning, complain about traffic, etc., but they are just little things, often without any true meaning other than to lift the spirits or unload stress. Sometimes, however, you get a moment of clarity, about what is important in life, and it is not always brought by good news.
After a dinner and a movie tonight with friends, I came home to a letter from my Tennessee Colony, TX. A 411 chat buddy of mine lives there and I sent him my naughty Christmas card. According to the letter, he never got to see it.
My buddy Johnny
The letter was from Johnny's boss. She had gotten my address from the Christmas card. She informed me that Johnny was killed on November 27th in a four-wheeler accident. She was there when it happened. He was going down a steep hill, hit a hole, and went into a tumble. Johnny was knocked out and never woke up.
I met Johnny on 411. With his graying goatee, dark eyes, and broad shoulders, I was immediately attracted to him. We started chatting off and on and I discovered that besides being very handsome, there was a kind, decent guy there behind those beautiful eyes. We talked on the phone once and chatted whenever we saw each other online, usually with a casual flirt and what was going on in our lives. He was a fun-loving guy, enjoyed the outdoors and his four-wheeling and described himself as 45 years young.
I read the letter several times, it just didn't seem quite real at first. It feels so strange to mourn someone I never met. People say that chatting online is a sort of false socializing, that you don't get a true sense of person because of the illusion of a two-dimensional picture and some vague and short description that can be full of half-truths. The other part of that argument is that there are genuinely nice people just looking to chat and find a friend. I'm proud to say I know many who are the latter.
I regret never having met Johnny in person, giving him a hug and telling him how much I enjoyed his friendship. I feel for his family and friends in their time of loss. He was a sweet guy, he'll be missed.
After a dinner and a movie tonight with friends, I came home to a letter from my Tennessee Colony, TX. A 411 chat buddy of mine lives there and I sent him my naughty Christmas card. According to the letter, he never got to see it.
My buddy Johnny
The letter was from Johnny's boss. She had gotten my address from the Christmas card. She informed me that Johnny was killed on November 27th in a four-wheeler accident. She was there when it happened. He was going down a steep hill, hit a hole, and went into a tumble. Johnny was knocked out and never woke up.
I met Johnny on 411. With his graying goatee, dark eyes, and broad shoulders, I was immediately attracted to him. We started chatting off and on and I discovered that besides being very handsome, there was a kind, decent guy there behind those beautiful eyes. We talked on the phone once and chatted whenever we saw each other online, usually with a casual flirt and what was going on in our lives. He was a fun-loving guy, enjoyed the outdoors and his four-wheeling and described himself as 45 years young.
I read the letter several times, it just didn't seem quite real at first. It feels so strange to mourn someone I never met. People say that chatting online is a sort of false socializing, that you don't get a true sense of person because of the illusion of a two-dimensional picture and some vague and short description that can be full of half-truths. The other part of that argument is that there are genuinely nice people just looking to chat and find a friend. I'm proud to say I know many who are the latter.
I regret never having met Johnny in person, giving him a hug and telling him how much I enjoyed his friendship. I feel for his family and friends in their time of loss. He was a sweet guy, he'll be missed.
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no subject
Date: 2006-01-28 06:39 am (UTC)