Community Chat

[madzonie]

I opened my local newspaper on a few days ago only to see a face from my past in the obituaries. It was my long lost and star-crossed love from my college days. The picture accompanying the obituary was his high school grad picture, which I found strange and odd.

At first I didn't have any strong emotional reaction…just a real sense of sadness that he died much too young (66). I went on with my day, then decided to see if I could find any additional information on his death and funeral services.

The more I searched the stranger I felt about the placement of the obit and picture in my local paper. I found no such notice in his old hometown paper, nor anything in the papers near where he must have been living at the time of his death. He never lived in the town where I currently live, making the placement of the obituary mysterious to me. I've found nothing announcing his death anywhere else - at least online.

Then my mind started going a little crazy, as it sometimes does. I got to wondering if his wife, in some strange gesture of kindness or compassion, chose to put the obit in my paper, perhaps knowing I was living here now?? And the choice to use his high school photo, which would be immediately recognizable to me, was fascinating.

I lost track of my friend back in the early 2000's. We used to correspond now and then, but he moved a lot, and we'd often lose contact. Somehow we'd manage to reconnect via letters, emails, phone calls, etc. Over the years since college (40+) he went through 2 failed marriages and had some personal health issues. His last wife, and the one to whom he was married when he died last month, didn't like him being in touch with me, so we cut things off. But I think she knew that I was going to be moving close to the area where he and I grew up years ago - in towns about 60 miles from each other.

I know there is probably some explanation as to why his obituary was in my hometown paper, with the high school picture of a 66 year old man, but the whole thing has certainly gotten me to wondering!