![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
susandennisWhen I got home from Kieran and Alan's last night, there was a message on my answering machine from my friend, John's sister Ann. She said she had some bad news about John and asked that I call her. She's in Chicago and it was 11 p.m. here so I waited until this morning. I have been worried about John lately. A week ago last Wednesday he sent me an email that a woman we both know had contacted him for my email address and he wanted to know what was up. He did not reply to my replies. And I was getting worried again.
I figured Ann was calling me to tell me that they had discovered what was wrong with him and he was in the hospital somewhere and had asked her to call.
I was going to wait until 9 her time but only made it to 8:30. She told me they found him dead at home in bed last week. He was not responding to emails and phone calls and finally his brother called the police in Newport Beach (where he lives) and they found him.
She and I talked a long time and compared notes. She did tell me that they had figured out that his problem was a mostly dormant but genetic condition that created a build up of iron in his blood and this was causing his symptoms. His brother (a doctor here in Seattle) had finally convinced him to come here to see a specialist and get treatment. John had agreed and it was the phone calls and emails to get that set up that John didn't respond to.
I'm really not sure how to feel. John had been on my back about when he could come up and see the remodel. I kept putting him off until it was finished and by then he was not traveling until he figured out what was wrong. I can't believe he'll never see this place. He would have been 58 in December. There are pictures of him all over this house. There's one right in my line of sight right now of me and John and Ann in Napa Valley - getting on a wine train.
We took each other's picture at the very southern tip of the South Island of New Zealand.
I can't believe I'll never talk to him again. This just does not seem real.
I figured Ann was calling me to tell me that they had discovered what was wrong with him and he was in the hospital somewhere and had asked her to call.
I was going to wait until 9 her time but only made it to 8:30. She told me they found him dead at home in bed last week. He was not responding to emails and phone calls and finally his brother called the police in Newport Beach (where he lives) and they found him.
She and I talked a long time and compared notes. She did tell me that they had figured out that his problem was a mostly dormant but genetic condition that created a build up of iron in his blood and this was causing his symptoms. His brother (a doctor here in Seattle) had finally convinced him to come here to see a specialist and get treatment. John had agreed and it was the phone calls and emails to get that set up that John didn't respond to.
I'm really not sure how to feel. John had been on my back about when he could come up and see the remodel. I kept putting him off until it was finished and by then he was not traveling until he figured out what was wrong. I can't believe he'll never see this place. He would have been 58 in December. There are pictures of him all over this house. There's one right in my line of sight right now of me and John and Ann in Napa Valley - getting on a wine train.
We took each other's picture at the very southern tip of the South Island of New Zealand.
I can't believe I'll never talk to him again. This just does not seem real.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 04:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 04:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 04:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 04:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 04:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 04:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 05:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 05:12 pm (UTC)On a different note: You really went on the wine train? You are the only person I know who ever took it. Did you enjoy it?
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 05:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 05:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 05:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 05:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 05:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 06:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 06:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 08:17 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 08:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 09:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 10:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 10:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-23 11:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-24 12:37 am (UTC)You're in my thoughts...
((((hugs))))
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-24 03:59 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-24 11:06 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-24 01:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-24 02:39 pm (UTC)He made a difference to you. You made a difference to him. That's a great and surprisingly unusual thing all in itself.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-24 11:17 pm (UTC)