Jon

I lost a terrific friend the other day. They found him lying on the floor of his apartment the morning after he died. He was supposed to come over and do his laundry that night, but when he didn't come, I wasn't concerned. He's often fallen asleep in front of his computer and missed a dinner visit, or a laundry visit.

I've been so caught up with my own life, that I never gave his life a thought that night. SHOULD I feel guilty for not wondering where he was? Probably not. DO I feel guilty? Absolutely! I keep thinking that while I was at work that day, Jon was lying there on the floor. When I drove home and glanced down his road to see if his car was in the yard, Jon was lying there on the floor. While I was laughing and playing with my grandchildren, while I sat and watched TV and chatted with my husband, and when I went to sleep that night, Jon was lying there on the floor. There's nothing I could've done to change it, but it seems so unfair that I was going about my life as usual, not knowing that his had ended.

I'm sure he's still hanging around in that other realm somewhere, and he's thinking how foolish it is for me to be feeling so badly about things I couldn't have known about or even imagined. He's probably slinging all those smart-assed comments at me that he always did. He was always good for a laugh... our Jonathan.

I've known Jon for most of my adult life. It's hard to imagine what it's going to be like without his silly commentary, his little bits of information about every song on the radio, his computer help, and his daily weather reports and warnings of road conditions.

Jon had one passion... photography. His pictures grace the walls of every store in town. I am so grateful that Vermont Life published his work before he died. This was the validation he had been waiting for and I've never seen him as excited as the day that letter came! He carried it around with him and showed it to everyone in town. And, OH MY GOD... when the magazine hit the newstands... it was definitely his proudest moment.

The people in Richford are a little richer because Jon was a part of their lives. I hope his family takes comfort in knowing how much he was loved and will be missed.