Friday, October 18, 2019

Remembering Steve



I found tonight that an old friend of mine, Steve, had passed on Monday. Apparently, he was at a gaming convention with a buddy over the weekend and didn't feel very good. When he returned home on Monday, he had a lethal heart attack.

He was right around my age, so under 50. Too young. Way too young. He leaves a daughter behind.

Sadly, as things happen, life gets in the way and we drifted apart. He moved to Louisville, KY and I believe he was engaged and his fiancee had a son. I wish I knew more. I feel bad I don't know more.

When I was dating my now wife, Steve occasionally got to play in the Legend of the Five Rings 1st Edition game I ran (at one point 17 people were playing, I think the only reason I could handle that is because I was showing off to my wife who loved Rokugan and thankfully, me). He was a manager at a local restaurant, and we played on fridays, and those two things don't really mix well.

I think I was 25 when I met him. I really respected who he was and I always felt he did the same for me. 

We might not see each other for weeks, but we would reconnect when we saw each other and the time didn't seem to matter.

I remember that he loved playing Rogues/Thieves in DnD/ADnD. He was a very obnoxious Rogue, always stealing from the party. While I already loved Conan the Barbarian and Solomon Kane when I met him (for me Roy Thomas and John Buscema were Conan for me), he introduced me to Robert E. Howard's work and we had a mutual interest in Lovecraft. For those that don't know, Howard was born in Cross Plains, TX and this blog's name is derived from that, in celebration of Howard's pulp stories and in homage, to Sigil. He also loved miniatures games, Warhammer Fantasy and Savage Worlds. His favorite films were The Whole Wide World and Bubbahotep, but he was a film buff as well. We could talk for hours about movies and fiction. He was an intelligent, kind, and good person.

As my wife and I were getting more serious, he and his now ex-wife were too. I was an Usher in his wedding and she was my wife's Maid of Honor.  For several years, Me and Priscilla, Steve and Marcy, and Randy and Wanda were inseparable. But you drift apart. Steve and Marcy had a daughter and divorced, and I'm not sure he ever got over her.  Randy and Wanda faced some personal tragedy and after having two kids, they divorced too.

You always think that you'll get back to a friend eventually. And then you can't.

Steve, I hope you find time in the afterlife to sit down and talk with Howard and Lovecraft. You were a good friend, a mensch, and you will be missed.

2 comments:

Brian I said...

Deepest condolences on the loss of your friend.

Cross Planes said...

Thank you.

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