Retrotalk : School Daze : Deaths of former classmates

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freakyfemme Member Since: August 2007 Contributions: 516 Gold Stars: 7 View User Posts	Deaths of former classmates Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 7:15 pm Central Time Hey all, Today, I went to a funeral for a boy I went to elementary school with. I didn't have a lot of friends in elementary school (being the smart-but-unathletic kid who didn't smoke or shoplift, lol), but this boy was one of those rare people who was nice to everyone. Anyway, we didn't really talk to each other much after elementary school (we went to the same high school, but ran with VERY different circles--I was in the advanced stream, and in way too many extra-curricular activities, and he just sort of faded into the woodwork), and then I went off to university while he stayed home. I didn't see him again until this past winter, when I ran into him on a city bus, and he started reminiscing about the old days. I told him I didn't have a lot of happy memories at that school, because I didn't really have any friends, and he said, "That's not true, [my real name], I was your friend." Since then, we added each other on Facebook, but didn't really talk to each other, and then, just this past Saturday, he died of a drug overdose. Anyway, I'm not looking for pity here (I didn't even cry, I mostly just comforted other people who needed it), but I was just wondering, has anyone else been in this situation, and lost someone from school who was their own age, and far too young to die at that?
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major_havoc Member Since: October 2007 Contributions: 688 Gold Stars: 56 View User Posts	Re: Deaths of former classmates Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 7:50 pm Central Time I'm sorry to hear of your loss. I have lost five classmates over the years, It is never easy. For me, the worst was my friend Jim. He and I were close in grade school but drifted apart in high school. We still saw each other periodically but not nearly as often as we had earlier. He developed problems with drugs and alcohol and had numerous encounters with the law. Through it all, he remained my friend. He finally conquered his demons, found a steady job and got married. He was killed in a motorcycle crash when he was struck by a drunk driver who had run a stop sign. If there is anything to be learned from untimely deaths, I suppose it would be to treasure every moment.
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princessdiana Member Since: September 2006 Contributions: 1908 Gold Stars: 1784 View User Posts	Re: Deaths of former classmates Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 8:25 am Central Time I had 2 classmates die,1 in a robbery Mike Maybe after graduation. I knew him in elementary and middle school.and Greg Careful I knew died of ? when I was in Middle school.,I knew him when I was in elementary school.
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sweetsgrl Member Since: February 2006 Contributions: 2916 Gold Stars: 124 View User Posts	Re: Deaths of former classmates Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:08 am Central Time My 19 year old daughter has had 3 classmates die...while she was still in school. The first was when she was in 1st grade. The sister of one of her classmates passed away. I don't know what she had but she was always sick. My daughter knew her through the brother and because they all rode the same bus. The little girl was in a wheel chair and my daughter remembers often tying the little girl's shoes for her. I'm thinking she may have had cancer, but I'm not sure. When my daughter was in 3rd grade school was closed one day for a snow day. One of the kids in her class had been outside playing in the snow by herself. She was digging holes and tunnels in the snow and fell headfirst into one of the holes and suffocated. The last one was when she was in 7th or 8th grade. One of her classmates had had a heart transplant when she was in 5th or 6th grade. When she was in 7th or 8th, she started rejecting the heart and eventually passed away.
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tripdownmemorylane Member Since: April 2007 Contributions: 266 Gold Stars: 177 View User Posts	Re: Deaths of former classmates Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:22 am Central Time Several, the first being Kim, she died on the night of graduation. Drank until dawn and her friends put her to bed face up. She drown. Jamie died in a motorcycle accident a few years later. No helmet.
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Christina87 Member Since: October 2008 Contributions: 336 Gold Stars: 19 View User Posts	Re: Deaths of former classmates Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 12:02 am Central Time My cousin died last year 3 months after his high school graduation. I miss him so much it physically hurts. A guy named Tony died in an accident when I was in high school. He was like 3 years older than me I didnt know him but I knew his sister who was a year younger than me. My aunt died in an accident when she was a senior in hs in 1970.
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HardyGirl66 Member Since: November 2005 Contributions: 4041 Gold Stars: 550 View User Posts	Re: Deaths of former classmates Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:29 am Central Time I remember in high school, this girl was at a party w/ her boyfriend where alcohol was served. She drank quite a bit, and didn't eat much. Well they got into a fight and she left the party w/o him and began walking home. She passed out on the street and died of alcohol poisoning. My older brother Michael died when I was 12 of the same thing. He was found dead on a park bench in NYC. _________________ Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.
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mwsmedia Member Since: September 2009 Contributions: 214 Gold Stars: 4 View User Posts	Re: Deaths of former classmates Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 1:24 pm Central Time I had a classmate die just a few weeks after graduation. We were rivals to varying degrees, but that settled down when our parents had businesses right next to each other when we were in junior high together. He took a cross-country trip from southern California to Seattle on his motorcycle; wasn't wearing a helmet and fell asleep, crashed. He was in a coma for weeks before they finally pulled the plug. As I get older (in my early forties now) I find myself thinking more and more about folks l used to know in high school or after, and whether they're dead or alive. Fortunately, they all seem to be on Facebook! :-0 I'm happy to say I'm back in touch with almost everyone I used to know or care about, and they're all doing well. _________________ Matthew Wayne Selznick Chief Evangelist http://www.retroland.com
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Zoetrope11384EB Member Since: March 2006 Contributions: 322 Gold Stars: 67 View User Posts	Re: Deaths of former classmates Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 10:25 pm Central Time In high school, there was a classmate of mine who was killed by a drunk driver the academic year after I graduated from school. I participated in the march against drunk driving from the site of the accident, which was in Clear Creek Canyon, which is west of Golden, Colorado to the Jefferson County Courthouse. This student had built his own coffin when he was younger and was buried in it. Other students who knew him better than I did said that he knew he was not going to live to be an adult, which was why he built his own coffin. I was shocked to hear that my best friend's girlfriend in high school died from breast cancer about 10 years ago. I remember when she broke up with him. He was devastated. I'm not in contact with this guy anymore, but I wonder if he knows that she died.
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