Unwanted News

I received a call tonight about 10:30 from the grandmother of a boy whom I’d mentored for the better part of five years.    I had met him through a community agency (which is in no way connected to where I work now) and at their request basically hung out with him on weekends from 1993 until about 2000 (although I was out of province for two of those years).

 

I’m not sure I was the best of influences, but I wasn’t awful and he had a real lack of positive males in his life.  Things petered out in 1999-2000 (I forget when exactly) and he and his family moved west.  We didn’t really stay in touch, but I did here from his grandmother about 4 years ago to say that he was doing well and, I think, that she felt I’d been a good influence.

 

Tonight her message was more difficult to hear.  My little buddy died this past July.  Now over twenty, he died in an accident.  I’m being vague because I want respect his privacy even now, but he died in a boating accident doing something that thousands of people do everyday.

 

Wow…  I’d be a stretch to say that he was still a part of my life, but he was certainly part of my past.  He was a nice kid, whose life could have gone either way.  Apparently he was very well liked in the community and by his peers, was gainfully employed and still in meaningful relationships with those who cared about him.  He was going to succeed and have fun doing it.

 

So, I’m a little stunned right now.  The news was awful and felt like a blow to my head and soul at the same time.  There’s not much more I can say.  I may take tomorrow off to just do some thinking and remembering.

 

B.