Pace on Earth

Cry For a Shadow

We buried a friend today.

I got news last Wednesday that a good high school friend of mine, Jason Neil, had passed away. Details were sketchy and I spent the next 24 hours letting the rest of the boys know and hoping against hope that it wasn't true. Sadly, it was. And I spent the next day wondering what the hell happened, wondering what went wrong in this smiling guy's life and wondering if I have any other friends hurting so bad.

I missed the funeral as I am currently enroute home from BC. I talked to some of the boys to figure out where I could meet them later and they said the funeral was incredibly heartwrenching due mainly to Jay's to kids being there. They said there were alot of people there and that comes as no surprise to me. Look at that smile.

My enduring memory of Jay will always be that smile. I remember being in a car oustide the Crawfords' house on Smith St. waiting for Jay so we could go to another party. I didn't see Jay come out of the house and his silhouette was dark against the night. As he got close he said something to the driver and smiled. Out of the darkness that smile was like a streetlight coming on.

Jay's nickname was Shadow and I can't help but think that says something about the place that we grew up. Jay was Shadow and we called him that without the slightest thought of any negative racial connotations. Jay was black, black as a shadow, so that was his nickname. I told this to some black friends in Victoria this week and they thought it was nuts. It probably is.

Speaking of nicknames, Jay was the guy who dubbed me Smoothy. It was the Monday after a big football win in high school. My picture was in the paper with the caption Smooth as Silk. When I got to the cafeteria at lunch he walked up to me and said "What's up Smoothy?" and than flashed that smile. I've liked that nickname ever since. He greeted me the same way everytime I saw him in the 17 years that followed. Always with that fucking smile.

RIP Jay - you are greatly missed.

Smoothy.

Labels: Jason Neil

posted by Vitamin S @ 12:38 p.m.