Shocked

Every once in awhile I think about an old friend I haven't seen in years and wonder how they are doing. Today I thought about my friend, Jack. I haven't seen him in years. I had googled him about 3 or 4 years ago and discovered that he was working for Google out in California. I wasn't entirely surprised since he was a genius with mathematics and science. When I was friends with him he was a graduate student at the University of Rochester. You can read about some of the programming he wrote that most of use pretty much everyday here. I had also enjoyed reading his humorous blog.

This afternoon, I Googled him again to see what he's up to. I ended up finding his obituary! He passed away on January 7th of 2015. I am so shocked and saddened by this. I am sad for his wife and two kids. Right now, his kids are only 14 and 11. Jack had leukemia.

It's weird how you hardly think of someone except in passing for years and then when you learn about them passing away, suddenly every conversation you had with them seems to come alive in your memory. I remember even getting angry at him about something and giving him a piece of my mind once. He actually was a great guy and friend.

I went out on two dates with Jack during the period of time that I had asked the Lord to not allow me to steadily date someone until it was the person I was supposed to marry. One of the dates was to the Lilac Festival in Rochester. Even though I grew up in the Rochester area, that was the one and only time I ever went to it. I think I will try to change that this coming May. I remembered that I have these snapshots of that day. Jack took the first picture and a stranger took the second.

I think the last time I saw Jack was at my wedding.

Later: you absolutely must click on the link to Jack's blog. It is hysterical. In spite of the dreadfully sad news, he has gotten me laughing until I have cried.