Alex @ MindSay

Alex,
As a graduate of Talawanda 2 years ago, I can with full conviction say that you will never be forgotten. The person that you were during the 2 years that I was in HS with you was a bright sunshine within the dreariness of the THS halls. I never got to know you that well, but the few times I had a chance to talk to you, I immediately found out what and incredible person you were- a constant smile, and friend to all. Your loss has impacted all, even those who knew you but a little. I find comfort in knowing that you are with God and safe in His arms. Even though it is hard to see, God had a plan for your life, although brief it was amazing. Your spirit will live on in the walls of THS and in the hearts of everyone that knew of your name. I know that your classmates, and your Talawanda family, and your family in Christ will cherish your memories for years to come.
Love and may you rest in Peace with God, in Heaven, for you truly are an angel.

~Deanna







Just a little something I wrote.....maybe to bring comfort to others....

I will take the opportunity to introduce a few friends.

Rob is one of my good friends. We met a little over a year ago at work - at the time, he was delighted by how easily he could make me blush. Said friendship built over the summer and IM, when we discovered that we could argue about theology, books, music, friendships, human nature - just a lot of stuff we both enjoyed. He's amazing at backrubs, generally people find it easy to trust him. I think. He's also got cerebal palsy, which means that he spends a fair amount of time hanging out in a wheelchair, and he says sometimes people have a hard time with him because of it. I've yet to see it, but okay.

Alex is another friend of mine, got engaged to my dear Micro Psycho on Sunday. We've known each other since I started going to FCC. He's occasionally referred to as, "All-American redneck farmboy." Not a comment on his intelligence, but rather his size and his approach to problem solving. He's big, he's strong, and if there's a practical solution to a problem, he'll go directly to it and not care if anyone's offended. Generally a pretty friendly guy, but nobody's doormat. We like Alex. Useful to have around if you want a small piano or hay bale dropped on someone, or your back cracked.

Liz is sweet, petite, and a little bit random - she's in show choir with me. I don't know her as well as the guys, mostly because she's a newer person in my life, but really, it's hard to NOT like Liz. She has a genuinely cheerful attitude that prevails in almost every situation, and she's darn cute. She and Rob are also engaged.

Coincidentally, all three of them live in the same house. Well, Alex rents from Rob, and there's some chaos in Liz's world that just made it sensible for her to be living with her fiance. Or something. So, Rob's house.

The rest of this story is almost entirely from Rob, with bits from Liz and a few things from Alex's fiancee, as I see her more often than I see him. Particularly since the event.

3:30 a.m., Rob wakes up because Liz's dog is barking. He half turns over to get up and see what's up, then the dog stops. Waits a minute to see if there's anything more, shrugs, and then turns back to go to sleep, throwing an arm over Liz as he does so. He makes a point of mentioning this last bit - why?

Because Rob knows that I know that his reflexes, whether in spite of or because of his condition and a few surgeries, are rather stellar. Startlingly stellar, really. And a minute later, when a 4'x8' section of sheetrock fell out of their ceiling over them, it cracked over Rob's elbow, where he'd gone into a protective stance over Liz.

It's been ruled a natural gas leak. The immediate wall between the bedroom and the backyard was largely missing, so Liz and Rob crawled out. Rob could only make it so far, and Liz dragged him the rest of the way to the edge of the yard (I did mention, she's little), where they both collapsed.

Alex has other problems. He's trapped in his room, the floor above Liz and Rob. He managed to break the window and dive through it, and found the rest of his housemates. He carried Rob to a neighbor's house, and another neighbor carried Liz.

The house is obliterated. Photos of it show the frame of Rob's Cruiser inside the frame of his garage - nothing else. The rest of the house is simply gone.

Alex's truck is okay, as he'd parked it on the street, and Rob apparently had his phone in a pocket. Everything, absolutely everything else, is gone. I amend that - Alex went back to the site yesterday and found Liz's engagement ring in the backyard.

Every other house on the block was evacuated because of the high gas levels, but fortunately there haven't been any more fires. Yesterday, Rob and Liz went to get their eyeglasses replaced, and today they're moving into an apartment not far from where he (and I) work. The chair that was custom-made was lost in the explosion (he doesn't use it in the house - he keeps it in his car), but fortunately his best friend has his original at her house, and she's bringing it up today.

We've been calling back and forth since it happened, and we share the same sentiment - it's bad, but at least they're alive. We're so, so thankful that they're alive. Everyone's saying that it's a miracle that they got out of there. Rob has some ice burns from being dragged, Alex has some scratches from the window and the landing, and I'm not sure about Liz, but they're alive. It's also great talking to Rob, because he's one of those people who's a blended pragmatist and philosopher. His general take on the whole thing is a very calm, "Taking it a day at a time," and at this point he's just getting tired of retelling the story. It's also great because Liz is there with him, and despite how scary the ordeal was, she's now back to being cheerful and finding things to laugh at in the world.

Rob's already talking about rebuilding on the same site, just clearing everything out and starting new. He tends to enjoy construction projects, and he also has this belief that the fire's not going to kick his butt and make him move. He makes me laugh, and it feels so good to laugh with him again, even knowing that it could have happened that we'd never talk with each other again.

"Treasure one another in the recognition that we do not know how long we shall have each other."
-Joshua Loth Liebman

I am so stressed at this moment in time because so much has been going on, and I don't know how much more of this I can handle. I've also been extremly confused lately...about a lot of things.

 

After I got robbed, I've been a little more paranoid about closing the blinds, checking to make sure doors are locked, and checking if my car is still sitting in the driveway at night when I go to bed. No one should have to be that worried. Even though we know who it is, and that she's going to get caught after they catch a few of her friends, too...it's still bugging me. I mean, it's gotten a lot better since it all happened, but it's still there.

 

My schedule has been jam-packed with stuff going on with school projects, work, and whatever else you could think of. It seems like teachers are all piling their projects in at one time, and it's making me freak. I've also been picking up a lot at work lately, because I need a little extra cash (since I lost a lot of my stuff when it got robbed), to buy a few more things to replace stuff.

 

I miss my friends like mad. I haven't hung out with any of them in almost a month, and I'm starting to have Alex and Travis withdrawls lol. I miss laughing and going out to eat at odd hours of the night because we all suddenly become hungry after laughing so much. I miss Alex's hugs, and Travis' house. I miss Adam's drunken stories on Sunday mornings. I miss making a fool out of myself and not caring what anyone else thought. I miss laughing until I was in tears...I miss the smiles that made my face hurt. I miss the way we'd be at Travis' house, and say we were going to leave.....but three hours later--we were still saying the same damn thing. I just miss everything. It's going to start happening again soon where I hang out with friends more..once the stress of school goes away, and the friends get more time.

 

I'm extremly confused about Brad...I don't know what to do. I know he'd take me back in a nano-second...but (...I know--there's always a but), I don't think I'd be able to be in one right now because of all the stress and unsure thoughts. But we've been talking a lot lately, and I'm sort of missing him, and kind of starting to like him the teeniest bit again. I just don't think I'd be able to handle a relationship right now...at all. I just don't really know what to think. Maybe after the stress of things wears off, I'll be able to talk to him about everything, but right now is just not a good idea.

 

I don't know what else to say...I'm just tired I guess, from staying up too late working on projects and everything this week, and yeah...

 

G'nite...

Nicole <3

...is Alex?!

 

Today marks the tenth day since I have heard from her. I was actually really beginning to worry extremely badly, but Heather made contact with me over MySpace and said that "Alex is fine". But she said something about not being able to explain the situation that Als was in, because it wasn't her place to explain it. It was Alex's place. That's fine by me, but it raises a few questions in my mind.

 

What situation? When is Alex going to explain it to me? When is she evn going to be online again?

 

One more thing that Heather decided to tell me: "I can tell you one thing, though. She's not camping."

 

...!!

 

Then where the hell is she?!

 

Do you see why I hate being strandard in Australia when they're up in America?! I never know what's going on! I rely on Alex to tell me because she's almost always online, so we talk a lot. But now she's not here, what am I to do?!

 

Ack...and school went back today, as well. It's so freaking cold here right now that I didn't want to get out of bed, but I did. And here I am. I can't feel my fingertips anymore.

 

This is so depressing...I'm going to send Als another message and just go for now...

 

xoxo