Has Anybody You Have Known Died Much Too Young?

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The youngest person I knew who died - unexpectedly, was a guy called Mark. He was 38 years old and one of the kindest, most sensitive people one could ever wish to meet. He got along way better with women than men because he could show his sensitive side to women and not feel uncomfortable about it. I used to work in the same office as him, along with his soon-to-be fiancee (on another desk) and another friend, Sandra. That was in 1998, then I came back to work in the same building a few years later, so saw Mark occassionally but not as much as I did before. He actually collapsed 5 years ago when he was clocking out from work as he'd just come down a flight of stone stairs, clutching his chest as he went. I didn't witness this, it all came out later from the security guys who tried to revive him and failed. It turned out that Mark had a heart defect that - if it had been diagnosed he would still be alive today, aged 43 (same age as me). I will never forget his face (filled with tears) when he once told us about cradling one of his ducks in his arms, that was dying due to being shot at with an air-rifle. That's how sensitive he was; sadly missed. A friend of mine called Alison (she is affectionately known as Wol or Ali in my diaries) is a few months older than me. Me, her and Linda used to go out a lot in the 1980s. Linda got a boyfriend first and Wol was infatuated with Kevin, who had a mate called Brent. Now, I always thought Wol liked Brent more than Kevin but she actually went out with Kevin! Strange set-up! We kinda drifted away from each other but I managed to contact her via her Mum whilst I was living with Steve in 1992. She had moved to Lytham, which is a nice area on the Fylde Coast, just down the Prom from Blackpool, where we all used to hang out. Anyway, she had a sad look in her eyes when she came to see me and said, "Do you know about Brent?" I asked her what she meant and she replied, "He died of a heroin overdose, he was only 29, that's why I moved, I couldn't stand all the memories and had to get away." Oh dear. It all made sense. It was a known fact that both Kevin and Brent used heroin and I would not judge them (or anyone else) on their drug use..but Kevin did try and get Alison to use and she wouldn't because the sight of needles made her sick. Now, Brent was the more sensitive, kind one...like Wol herself so would never do that, I'm sure. So the fact that he died and Kevin didn't was probably too much for her to bear (not that she'd want anyone dead) but you see what I mean. Anyway, during our "reunion" both Wol and I went out to our usual haunts but it wasn't the same. The people we met weren't the people we knew in the 1980s. Everyone had moved on, including ourselves. Since that night in 1992 I saw her once on a bus and that's been it. My bessie mate wants to be on her own and I respect that. I only hope she has found true happiness at last, she deserves it.