Memoria...
In which a friend is remembered...
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Life is strange sometimes.
On April 28th I met my friend Rob Hightshoe in Omaha, Nebraska for a long overdue sit-down. Time and distance had conspired to keep us apart, and succeeded for a number of months. Sure, we talked every weekend on the phone, but we hadn't actually seen one another in over a year and a half. So we met at a local Perkins, and talked away the hours like old friends do, sharing tales of times and trials, and caught up as best we could. Our wives chatted, and shared monitoring duties on their newest addition, Leyna. Then after a full meal, we cruised the local comics shops and bookstores, discussing the pros and cons of the comics industry. It was a great day, and, a bit teary-eyed, we vowed to meet again at the end of the month.
Then again, life is strange.
I got the call from Carla on May 3rd, telling me Rob had passed away.
Rob was a bit arrogant, very argumentative, and clung to his ideals and beliefs like a pit bull, sometimes to the point of frustration. Yet that's what I respected and admired about him. He knew what he liked, in comics and in life, and shared it generously. He was my friend, my brother, and a mentor in my life. He was the one who introduced me to the lyrical musings of Alan Moore, and the poetic beauty of Neil Gaiman’s works. His death brings to mind something Alan Moore once wrote in an issue of his book Top Ten, a favorite of Rob’s. An Officer has a dream of his dead partner, killed in the line of duty. His partner is asked if it dying hurts. He responds;
"Yes, child, it does. It hurts like a silent friend." I'm beginning to understand what he meant.
Rob had a favorite song lyric by Eric Clapton that he wanted mentioned at his funeral, one that summed up his beliefs in regards to death and the hereafter.
“Further on down the road, you will accompany me.”
For Rob, this worked for both friend and foe. For his foes, it means you all die too someday. For his friends, it means someday, I’ll see you again.
He was my friend. And I will miss him.
Life is strange sometimes.
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