We kept in touch as best we could when I went to college, but slowly drifted apart as new friends and experiences opened up before me. I went to work, got married, had children, bought a house. The years flew by.
I thought of him often and tried to find him through the white pages, through old friends, and more recently, through social media, to no avail. I and another close friend from back in the day were able to track down his brothers, and it was through them that we were told that our lovely friend had committed suicide in 1987, the same year that my youngest son was born.
For an all too brief time in my life, he was my best friend. He accepted me for who I was. I learned so much from him. He taught me to question everything, especially myself. He introduced me to new ways of thinking - about people, about the world.
I am saddened by the loneliness and despair he must have borne. I am saddened that I was not there for him.
I must stop now. All I can say is Godspeed my old friend.
Jack Travis 1957-1987
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