Don't Wait

Several years ago, I had the pleasure of getting to know one of my husband's co-workers better.  He was a brilliant mind....and very intense.  It was at a Christmas party with other co-workers at the home of my husband's direct boss.  This individual was intense...but not personally so....it was just that he was a deep thinker and passionate about things.  It was also obvious to me that most of the people at the party just "didn't get him."

My husband and I had contact with him from time to time, and he and I always said "we should really go out to dinner with him" or some such thing.

Then, he lost his job at Hartzell.  However, he came to one of the off site functions and I got to talk to him again.  This last fall, Carlos saw him on the bike path with his son...He wasn't wearing a helmet and Carlos gave him our helmet lecture....We've seen too many accidents with bikes and your noggin holds a lot of info...and without proper brain function...well....you know the drill   Several of our friends survived bike/car accidents only because they were wearing properly fitted, properly worn helmets.  Two weeks after Carlos saw him, we got a phone call.  He had been riding, with his newly acquired helmet, only to be in an accident. His helmet was shattered, his skull was not and he thanked Carlos for giving him the riot act.

Once again, Carlos and I said "Gordon's a great guy, we should really call him and go out."  Only we never got around to it.  Carlos also noted that he had lost a lot of weight...although he wasn't by any means heavy when I knew him.

Yesterday, I saw a post on a mutual friends Facebook page.  It puzzled me, and I called her.  Gordon had committed suicide on March 8.  I am not saying that we would have been able to save him....but I am saying that if we had gotten to know him better we would have been the richer for it and just maybe, maybe he would have opened up to us....or someone else....or something.  At the very least we would have had a good time and I would have enjoyed talking once again to this very intelligent person.

I don't know what happened.  None of it makes sense, and I suspect, it only made sense to Gordon.  However, I do know that depression is a problem, and mental health issues are not ones which are handled well in the U.S.  But there is a cautionary tale.  Don't put off anything.  You never know when you will never have the chance again.