Missing a friend
I can talk about somebody who’s approximately my age actually. A very dear friend of mine, whom I knew for years and years who had the best smile and the best laugh and was so talented in so many ways. One of the most creative musical talents I ever met. He was a good friend to me for many years. We were involved in creative endeavors together. He did the musical score for a play I wrote once and that we produced together. That was a special time. He gave me a place to live when I was in a particularly difficult time and needed a friend to take me in. He suffered from multiple sclerosis and had terrible pain for years and years and years that he never got adequate treatment for, which led to a lot of mental health issues from all his suffering, and he chose to end his life several years ago. I really really miss him, but I miss the person he used to be. Not the person he became when he was so in pain and so tormented. It was brought to my mind, a lot of complicated issues, you know, things like he had several suicide attempts that failed before he was successful, if you can call it that, and then was given debilitating medical bills for the treatment he received that he didn’t want. You know? That put him in all kinds of financial trouble. So, it’s a complicated system, our healthcare system, and it’s complicated to give people the help they need or help they want or help they don’t need or don’t want. And it’s hard when talents blaze out.