Rest In Peace.

It's November 16th.  We've just gotten a fresh snowfall.  A friend of mine committed suicide yesterday, November 15th.  The grief is strange to me, owing to the fact that I really didn't know him all that well, at least not when compared to the 230+ people (at last count) who dedicated a Facebook group to him.

But that doesn't make my grief any less important, and it certainly doesn't make my grief any less painful.

I wasn't related to him but I feel as though I've just lost my older brother.  He was a doorman at the Generator Cabaret, one of the bars in town, and we tended to pester each other like brother and sister.  We'd give each other hugs, ask how the other was doing, etc.  Jeremy and I went to see a movie last night, and when we got back to Jeremy's place, he went on his computer and discovered that my friend, my big "brother" Kyle, had passed away.  I refused to believe it and outright denied it, saying "no, no, no.  Not Kyle.  This is a sick prank", until I came over and saw for myself- the group dedicated to the loving memory of Kyle Vankosky.

It's a shock.  He wasn't much older than 26 or 27, and graduated from PGSS in 2001.  He was a handsome, fun-loving guy, with a great smile and an even better personality.  He was in great health and worked out all the time, and he was big but not imposing.

The world feels a little more empty now.

I don't know why he took his life.  I don't pretend to know why.  I cared about him; sometimes I even felt that he was like my brother in deed if not in actual relation.  I felt safe when I knew he was around, everyone felt safe when he was around.  He was just that kind of guy.  The kind of guy that, when Death came to claim him, you know would look Death up and down and say "make me".

Rest in peace, Kyle.  If you felt nobody cared- we did care about you, we do care about you, and we always will care about you.  You're forever loved, and forever missed.