Damn!
This morning gotmoof's cell phone went off on the kitchen counter at 7 am. I was up, saw the call was from Tom Harris and began to worry. I mean, it was 5 am San Francisco time. No one calls at that time without it being disturbing news. When I went on lunch break, I had a phone message from bluedevilsf, who is in Missouri visiting family. The message said, call me. I have news about Tom Harris. Tim needs to know.
A bit of context ... Tommy aka bearbrat, gotmoof and bluedevilsf were at one time such close friends, I nicknamed them The Three Stooges. I never quite made up my mind which stooge they were, as each could be Curly, Larry or Moe depending on the day. Both Tim's moved to Minnesota from San Francisco, but stayed in touch with Tom. Tommy and I stayed in touch here on Live Journal, through the occasional phone call, birthday and holiday gifts. The last time I saw him in person was in 2007.
I reached Tim M in Missouri toward the end of my lunch break. The news was shocking, heartbreaking ... Tommy passed away last night - something to do with blood clots. He was in his early-mid 40's. I've got to admit, I'm not quite able to focus ... The bank needed me to adjust my schedule this week, so I came home at 2:30 pm. Dealing with people with overdrafts and service fee complaints just doesn't seem very important today.
You just never know, what the day will bring. There are men here on Live Journal who look upon Tommy as a brother, who knew him much better than I do. I share their grief. My condolences to both Tim's and to champdaddy in Ohio and others who were very close to Tom. I broke the news to Tim A by phone as he was headed out to celebrate his nephew's sixth birthday.
I will miss Tommy's sardonic sense of humor, his wit, his love of all things Disney, Pixar and the musicals "Rent" and "Wicked". I shared his love for the theater, for puncturing conceits ... for creating family from a circle of friends. The world is a much less interesting place without Tom Harris in it. I can't believe he's gone.