Death of a Friend

Got a little short email last night, telling me that a good friend had died just a few hours before. Sudden heart attack, they think. He was alone.

Dammit.

He was a great guy and a good friend; honest, loyal, funny, and fun to be around. But, more, he really made the effort to make things happen for people. When he found out that an elderly lady was about to lose her 40 acres thanks to a predatory lender scheme that put her in a balloon mortgage situation, he quietly bailed her out. As an ex-Marine, when he found out that a young man had joined the Marine Corps, he threw a going-away party for him - catered by his own restaurant friends. He always made little people - nonentities in the vast scheme - feel important, cared for, even loved.

I'd seen so many people take advantage of him over the years. It would piss him off on occasion but he would plunge right back into life, undaunted. He made millions, and lost thousands by investing in 'friends' and women who professed their undying love for him. He was openhanded and openhearted, and always wore his heart on his sleeve. In spite of the people who knifed him and took advantage of him, he always rose to the top. When a mutual friend threw a surprise birthday party for him, he was amazed at all of the people who came to thank him for what he'd done, and to show their love for him. The kindnesses he did as a matter of course; he couldn't understand how people could be so grateful, so proud to share his friendship. Black, white, rich or poor, didn't matter to Elliott - his friends were his friends, and he would fight to the death for them - even if he knew from the beginning that they wouldn't do the same for him.

The town will be a little meaner now, a little more shallow, a little less caring, because he's gone. Folks won't have him to turn to when they feel screwed or put upon. They won't have him to make fun of behind his back, while taking his money and his friendship with a smile to his face. They won't be able to tempt his weaknesses just for fun and to see him fall any more. They won't go to his lavish and open parties any more, share in his successes any more, sneer at his failures. For yes he did have failures - and his main one was that he believed in the basic goodness of people. All evidence to the contrary, all facts opposite, Elliott believed that people were salvageable.

Right now, Elliott is probably pissed at having his life cut short, and telling his jokes to whomever will listen. At least where he is now, they can't schmooze him for his money and his caring, can't take away whatever he has and laugh at him. He is where he will get his reward for his faith in people, and not get lied to, abused, or taken advantage of ever again.

Miss you, dude.