Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Death of a high school friend

I went to high school in Kearney, Nebraska at Kearney High School.

I didn't have a lot of friends from my own class.  Most of them were from the class one year younger.

One friend (I use the term friend loosely here) I had who I was in Cub Scouts in Junior High with and we hung out at each other's houses a couple of times and I had a few classes with was Jeff Harris.  We were in the same graduating class (1984) at Kearney High.  I don't remember him that well (It was the early 1980's, it was a looooong time ago!) but he was a decent kid from my recollection.

I was reminded of him today when one of my Facebook friends, who was in the same graduating class as I was in 1984, posted "RIP Jeff Harris" on her page today.

His last name is different now (Smith) for some unknown reason.  He passed away on May 29 at a hospital in Omaha.

His birthdate was one day before mine, same year.  He lived in a rural area of Nebraska according to his obituary which I looked up in the local paper (kearneyhub.com) online.

It occured to me today that I will end up finding out about more people I went to high school with who pass away.  Its a part of getting older I suppose.

I don't have particularly fond memories of my high school experience.  I was a very average student who was a little too creative for his own good.  Which explains why my current career suits me so well.

Finding out about Jeff's death today made me pause for a moment.  I hope he lived a good and happy life.