I didn't really sleep last night, kept awake thinking of Drew. I cannot believe that he is gone. I feel devastated, and cannot begin to imagine what Sachi is going through. It seems impossible to think that life will go back to being normal. I think it won't. I have so many great memories of Drew, but one of the most special was a little more than one month ago. It was the day our son was born. I had been on the phone calling our closest friends and family, but I couldn't reach Drew. He changed his mobile number so many times that I stopped updating my phone long ago, opting instead to look him up on my computer (emails, etc.) if I needed to call him. We were both always online anyway, so instant messenger or email was the usual means of communication. But I really wanted to tell him that we were parents, and didn't have a way to do that from the hospital. I don't know if it was luck, coincidence, or something else, but Drew decided to call me that evening. He had good news to share: we had been threatening to get out to Iron Rock Raceway to race go-karts, and he had stumbled upon an opportunity to get an old kart that we could fix up and race. We talked about that a little bit, and then I said I had good news too: we were parents, and had a beautiful baby boy. He was so excited, and wanted to come see us, but didn't think he could make it until after midnight. For anyone who knew Drew, you know he was not bound by practical things like time of day - if there was an opportunity in front of him, he would take it. It didn't matter if it was the middle of the night. He stopped at the store to pick up some food for us, and came that night to the hospital. He stayed with us until about 2 am. He was so happy to see our child, taking him into his arms immediately. It was as though he had been a parent 100 times before. Seeing Drew hold our son just seemed right, and it was simply wonderful. I feel so lucky to have been a part of it. Drew was one of the most important people in my life, and it means so much that he met our son on his first day of life. It feels a bit unfair that my wife and I could have this awesome memory and keep it to ourselves, so for all of you out there who knew and loved Drew, I wanted to share. |
