Never For Granted

 All I have today is somber news.

Today, I found out that someone I know from high school has passed away. I have no details on how it happened, when it happened, etc. But it is with a heavy heart that I write this post.

This guy, he is literally somebody that I have no bad memories of. I only remember good things about him, and how he was super chill. He is someone I had made a connection with really early on in life and thought I lost him for a bit, until piecing it together that we ultimately went to high school together. It was almost surreal how small the world is.

My friend, I had met him initially sometime in the early elementary school years. We knew each other from having the same piano teacher and we met at the end of year recital, in which after everyone had performed we would all socialize, eat desserts, and just enjoy each other's company. Being on the younger side, I don't honestly recall any of what I had talked about with him, but all I know for sure is that we were making some connections and it felt like we were getting along pretty well. I remember introducing myself, and he introducing himself to me, and I remember saying, "alright, I'll see you next year at the recital". But then he must have quit piano or otherwise had to stop his lessons for I thought I would never see him again.

Fast forward to senior year of high school. A long while later, I know. I happen to switch out of a horticulture class because I had a strong dislike for some of my classmates and I didn't want to suffer. So I switched to forensic science, which I honestly thought to be a lot more enjoyable. For the majority of the year, I just saw him as a friend of my friends, to which I would befriend because similar circles. I never really thought much of it aside from "hey this guy's pretty cool and we share a class together". It would come to some point in which I was re-watching "home videos" of which included the piano recital the same year I had initially met him. I remember watching that video and hearing the teacher call his name out. And I sat there thinking, "there's no way that that is a coincidence. But I guess a name is just a name." As I pondered it more and more, it eventually became a question I just had to ask to see if it was coincidence or if it was him. So I ask him one day, "hey, really random question but did you ever take piano lessons?" At first he was kind of confused. I mean who wouldn't be? It's a question you don't really get asked unless someone hears you talk about it. Much less how does piano lessons casually appear in conversation? He answers saying he used to but stopped after a little while. I decided to press on, and I asked him who his teacher was, and he mentioned the same name of my teacher that I had all those years. I then told him why I was asking because I had watched that video. And the look on his face as he made the connection and realized that we had met, many years before. It was like finding a lost friend. It was like finally finding that one thing you've been searching for but gave up on looking, and then it turns up when you least expect it.

We had a good laugh about it and were equally baffled by how we were able to reconnect so many years later. I mean people come and go, sometimes you don't keep with being friends with someone, and sometimes you just fall out of contact with. I mean even after that reconnection I hadn't really been in much communication with him over the last 4 years, but it was still nice back then.

So where does that leave me now? Honestly, I have no clue. I'm in a strange place. I never really talked to him outside of class, never got to hang out with him, and as I mentioned after the recital, or even after senior year of high school, there were years in which we didn't talk. Not because of a dislike, but just because we never got the chance to be close friends.

He was a good-natured guy. Intelligent and caring. He would be so welcoming of others and he was very easy to make friends with. He was a good, honest man. I'll miss him, even despite the minimal contact we had over the years.

I know you cannot read this, but this one goes out to you, Mike. You're a great guy, and you were an awesome friend from those short spurts I had been in your life. Rest easy, bro. I hope to see you some day and we can do more than just the very occasional talks. The world be a lot dimmer without your brightness.