reticent magpie

I just learned that I lost an old friend over the weekend. I had known Sasha since third grade, where we were both sort of misfits (he by far more of an outsider than I). We went to summer camp together as teenagers (he’s on the far left, I’m next to him) where we both sort of came into our own. His parents and my parents were friends and so we stuck out boring parties together. By high school we were both getting into shennanigans (again, he was better at this than I) and we lost touch by college. I kept hearing rumors about him, ones that seemed impossible—like a near-death experience in Alaska when the gas pipeline he was working on exploded. (True.)

He was a brilliant kid. I mean, seriously crazy smart. This, of course, is why he didn’t fit in at our North Carolina elementary school. As his obituary suggests, whatever he turned his mind to, he could take apart & put back together again—metaphorically & literally. When we got back in touch about 18 months ago, I was so glad to hear he had put that brain to good use.

I just realized that my only regret about deleting my MySpace account is that I lost all the messages Sasha & I sent back & forth when we reconnected. There was a funny exchange of surprise: “Wow, you grew up to be, like, crazy good-looking.” “Yeah, uh, you too.” (The obituary photo doesn’t do him justice, but this phrase does: “The heavily-tattooed vegetarian heartthrob was adored far and wide by both men and women.”)

imthepeanut was very close to him. She’s going to need your support, y’all.

Sasha, we will miss you.