In Memoriam

richlevy · 10-04-2006, 08:40 PM

Early Tuesday morning, a few hours after midnight, we got the news. Jeffrey's friend, Stephen, had been hit by a train and killed. Stephen was Jeffrey's best friend, ever since our families had gotten to know each other through school.

Stephen and Jeffrey both attended the same school for autistic students. We ran into his parents there a few times and finally got to know them as friends. Jeffrey and Stephen have been friends for about 7 years. Anyone from the Cellar who came to a BBQ at my house might have met him.

Stephen left the school for a different one, but came back for his last two years and was actually in Jeffrey's class for his last years. Being a year older, Stephen graduated last year. Since he was the only graduate that year, Stephen's parents had to push very hard for him to have a graduation ceremony.

He was a very nice kid. He was a little shy but always made the effort to smile and greet us when we visited. He enjoyed bowling in the local Special Olympics program and playing on the computer.

Yesterday, my wife drove Stephen's mom to his grandmother's house to deliver the news. Jeffrey went with them but my wife asked him to stay outside since we had not broken the news to Jeff yet. When I got home from work in the evening, we broke the news to Jeffrey.

Jeffrey has been to the funerals of relatives, but not ones who were very close. This was probably the closest person to him he has ever lost. We explained that Stephen was killed and had gone to Heaven. Jeffrey began to process this by self-talking, listing relatives and famous people who had died along with when they died or how many years they have been gone. So one of his great uncles was mentioned along with Chris Farley, Jim Morrison, and Ray Combs (host of Family Feud) as well as other relatives and celebrities.

He went up to his room, self talked for a while, and came down and asked some more questions. He seems ok for now and has been asking his mother questions while I was at work. He seems to be taking it pretty well for now.

10-04-2006, 08:40 PM	#1
richlevy King Of Wishful Thinking Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Philadelphia Suburbs Posts: 6,669	In Memoriam Early Tuesday morning, a few hours after midnight, we got the news. Jeffrey's friend, Stephen, had been hit by a train and killed. Stephen was Jeffrey's best friend, ever since our families had gotten to know each other through school. Stephen and Jeffrey both attended the same school for autistic students. We ran into his parents there a few times and finally got to know them as friends. Jeffrey and Stephen have been friends for about 7 years. Anyone from the Cellar who came to a BBQ at my house might have met him. Stephen left the school for a different one, but came back for his last two years and was actually in Jeffrey's class for his last years. Being a year older, Stephen graduated last year. Since he was the only graduate that year, Stephen's parents had to push very hard for him to have a graduation ceremony. He was a very nice kid. He was a little shy but always made the effort to smile and greet us when we visited. He enjoyed bowling in the local Special Olympics program and playing on the computer. Yesterday, my wife drove Stephen's mom to his grandmother's house to deliver the news. Jeffrey went with them but my wife asked him to stay outside since we had not broken the news to Jeff yet. When I got home from work in the evening, we broke the news to Jeffrey. Jeffrey has been to the funerals of relatives, but not ones who were very close. This was probably the closest person to him he has ever lost. We explained that Stephen was killed and had gone to Heaven. Jeffrey began to process this by self-talking, listing relatives and famous people who had died along with when they died or how many years they have been gone. So one of his great uncles was mentioned along with Chris Farley, Jim Morrison, and Ray Combs (host of Family Feud) as well as other relatives and celebrities. He went up to his room, self talked for a while, and came down and asked some more questions. He seems ok for now and has been asking his mother questions while I was at work. He seems to be taking it pretty well for now. __________________ Exercise your rights and remember your obligations - VOTE! I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. -- Barack Hussein Obama

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