Time for the Weekly Round-Up...
I look back and realize that it has been a week since I have written here - it seems like longer. So much has happened, it feels like there has been a month's worth of emotions!
First thing I have to address is my friend Dee. I have been so close to her for a few years now - I am sure I have talked about her here once or twice at the least. She is just so giving and loving, and she had this boyfriend who we were not 100% convinced was good for her. They would have been together about a year now ... hard to believe it was only one year!
Well, last Wednesday night I got a call from Dee, saying that he was dead.
To be more specific, he committed suicide. They had broken up about a month prior, and he would not leave her alone. Constant phone calls and text messages, begging her to come back to him. But even though they had been through break-ups and make-ups before, this one was the final straw. He had faked having stomach cancer just to try to keep her in his life. That shows just what a twisted individual he was.
So anyway, she called letting me know that he had shot himself in the head. WHILE HE WAS ON THE PHONE WITH HER. They had gone back and forth on the phone a bit that day, and she finally told him that she needed sleep and had to go to bed. After a little argument, he hung up. He then called back 2 or 3 minutes later and said, "Well, if you won't get back with me, then listen to this" and shot himself in the head with a double-barrel shotgun. Dee heard the shot and heard a few gasps for breath before the line went dead. She called 911 and they sent out some police officers to investigate at the apartment he and Dee used to share. Reluctant to just barge in to an apartment with a man and a gun inside, the police questioned the neighbors and took a look at the scene. Noticing that Dee's dog was barking madly inside the apartment, they decided after a short deliberation to break down the door. They found Dee's ex-boyfriend dead in the bedroom they used to share.
At this point dispatch called Dee back and let her know that the police had found her ex and that there was absolutely no way he could have been saved. They asked her to come out and give a statement, and she obliged. They didn't let her inside the apartment, thank the Gods. She has been in nursing for 10 years but there are some things that you never, ever need to see in your lifetime.
Dee is doing pretty well, taking things one day at a time. It was easier, I think, to get over her grief once she realized that she was going to have to fork out the cash for an entirely new queen bed, box springs and all.
Well, in the aftermath, Nicholas and I were the first ones she called. We made plans almost immediately to take the train up to Seattle and spend as many days with her as we could. We left on Friday and stayed till Monday. In the midst of it all, it ended up being a pretty nice little trip. The train ride was an enjoyable diversion, and Dee was in much better spirits than we had imagined she would be. I think she was just so relieved to see us - it has actually been 6 months now since we moved away from Seattle. It was so wonderful to see her, I love her so dearly and wanted to do anything that I could for her. We stayed with dear old Roger, and it was fantastic to see him again as well. We have that nice kind of friendship with both Dee and Roger where we can be just doing nothing, watching reruns on TV or playing cards, and we are all just happy to be in each other's presence. It was a great time, really. Sad circumstances yes, but in a way it was a mixed blessing because we all got to enjoy each other's company for a weekend.
Makes me think of how much I miss them, how much I miss everyone who is far away. Nicholas and I are thinking that after my AA degree at Lower Columbia College, we might end up going back to the Puget Sound area. I mean, the closest place where I could really get a good 4-year degree here is Vancouver, and that is 45 minutes south of here. And us without a car, I just don't see that working. But there are branches of just about all the major state colleges and universities in Seattle and Tacoma, and it would just be so nice to be close to Dee and Roger again ... of course, then again there are all the people I have come to know and love here in Longview. Life is just never simple. No matter where you are, no matter where you go, you are always leaving someone behind.
As if all this wasn't enough sadness, I came home to discover the sister of one of my oldest friends passed away. It was not 100% unexpected, as she had battled with a very rare and tragic illness. It was sort of icing on the misery cake, you know? Alana was just one of the most impossibly sweet people I have ever met, and will ever meet, in my whole life. She just glowed inside and out, and she was just so genuinely good to everyone she met. She will be sorely missed, more than I can ever express. This is one of those unfortunate circumstances in which the good really do die young. I can't say enough about how much I admire her and their whole family - when I was in junior high and high school, their family was sort of my one touch of normalcy. There were fights now and then, but through it all they really valued each other and stuck together through it all. They will weather this storm too, I know, but there will always be an emptiness. I am tearing up even as I write this ... such good people should not have shit like this happen to them.
First thing I have to address is my friend Dee. I have been so close to her for a few years now - I am sure I have talked about her here once or twice at the least. She is just so giving and loving, and she had this boyfriend who we were not 100% convinced was good for her. They would have been together about a year now ... hard to believe it was only one year!
Well, last Wednesday night I got a call from Dee, saying that he was dead.
To be more specific, he committed suicide. They had broken up about a month prior, and he would not leave her alone. Constant phone calls and text messages, begging her to come back to him. But even though they had been through break-ups and make-ups before, this one was the final straw. He had faked having stomach cancer just to try to keep her in his life. That shows just what a twisted individual he was.
So anyway, she called letting me know that he had shot himself in the head. WHILE HE WAS ON THE PHONE WITH HER. They had gone back and forth on the phone a bit that day, and she finally told him that she needed sleep and had to go to bed. After a little argument, he hung up. He then called back 2 or 3 minutes later and said, "Well, if you won't get back with me, then listen to this" and shot himself in the head with a double-barrel shotgun. Dee heard the shot and heard a few gasps for breath before the line went dead. She called 911 and they sent out some police officers to investigate at the apartment he and Dee used to share. Reluctant to just barge in to an apartment with a man and a gun inside, the police questioned the neighbors and took a look at the scene. Noticing that Dee's dog was barking madly inside the apartment, they decided after a short deliberation to break down the door. They found Dee's ex-boyfriend dead in the bedroom they used to share.
At this point dispatch called Dee back and let her know that the police had found her ex and that there was absolutely no way he could have been saved. They asked her to come out and give a statement, and she obliged. They didn't let her inside the apartment, thank the Gods. She has been in nursing for 10 years but there are some things that you never, ever need to see in your lifetime.
Dee is doing pretty well, taking things one day at a time. It was easier, I think, to get over her grief once she realized that she was going to have to fork out the cash for an entirely new queen bed, box springs and all.
Well, in the aftermath, Nicholas and I were the first ones she called. We made plans almost immediately to take the train up to Seattle and spend as many days with her as we could. We left on Friday and stayed till Monday. In the midst of it all, it ended up being a pretty nice little trip. The train ride was an enjoyable diversion, and Dee was in much better spirits than we had imagined she would be. I think she was just so relieved to see us - it has actually been 6 months now since we moved away from Seattle. It was so wonderful to see her, I love her so dearly and wanted to do anything that I could for her. We stayed with dear old Roger, and it was fantastic to see him again as well. We have that nice kind of friendship with both Dee and Roger where we can be just doing nothing, watching reruns on TV or playing cards, and we are all just happy to be in each other's presence. It was a great time, really. Sad circumstances yes, but in a way it was a mixed blessing because we all got to enjoy each other's company for a weekend.
Makes me think of how much I miss them, how much I miss everyone who is far away. Nicholas and I are thinking that after my AA degree at Lower Columbia College, we might end up going back to the Puget Sound area. I mean, the closest place where I could really get a good 4-year degree here is Vancouver, and that is 45 minutes south of here. And us without a car, I just don't see that working. But there are branches of just about all the major state colleges and universities in Seattle and Tacoma, and it would just be so nice to be close to Dee and Roger again ... of course, then again there are all the people I have come to know and love here in Longview. Life is just never simple. No matter where you are, no matter where you go, you are always leaving someone behind.
As if all this wasn't enough sadness, I came home to discover the sister of one of my oldest friends passed away. It was not 100% unexpected, as she had battled with a very rare and tragic illness. It was sort of icing on the misery cake, you know? Alana was just one of the most impossibly sweet people I have ever met, and will ever meet, in my whole life. She just glowed inside and out, and she was just so genuinely good to everyone she met. She will be sorely missed, more than I can ever express. This is one of those unfortunate circumstances in which the good really do die young. I can't say enough about how much I admire her and their whole family - when I was in junior high and high school, their family was sort of my one touch of normalcy. There were fights now and then, but through it all they really valued each other and stuck together through it all. They will weather this storm too, I know, but there will always be an emptiness. I am tearing up even as I write this ... such good people should not have shit like this happen to them.