Requiem For A Friend...

I've just returned home from a funeral for a man I did not know.

He was killed in an ATV accident this past Sunday. He was 30 years old.

He lived about 30 minutes from me, he was a truck driver, he loved video games, he built race cars and model cars, had a really nice Corvette, and was a really nice guy.

He and his wife were both close friends of my Wife's when they were all in High School, and now he is gone.

And I never met him.

Until today.

I have spent the afternoon making friends with his friends, listening to stories about him, the way he thought, the way he reacted to different situations, his attitudes, his beliefs, what was important and unimportant to him...

I would have liked him. A lot.

He was a good guy.

But now he is gone.

And I am sad that I never met him.

I am sad for his widow, alone after only seven years of marriage, wondering whether she should sell their house and move back in with her parents...

I am sad for his dogs, who will not understand why he will never come home to play with them again...

I am sad for his friends, who will never enjoy his company again, or benifit from his unique skillset, his knowledge, his point of view, his sense of humor...

And I am sad for myself, that I never had the opportunity to laugh with him, talk with him, help him with the projects that he was working on, and that I was not able to develop a relationship with him.

We would have been friends.

Rest in Peace, Donnie Bailey, my friend whom I never met.

You are missed.