Monday, February 14, 2005
Rest In Peace, Chris
Jef called me this afternoon. I was in the other room and didn't make it to the phone. I listened to the message and heard in the tone of his voice and the way he said, "I have some important news to tell you" that I needed to call back right away.
Jef had received a phone call from a friend back in Texas that Chris had passed away in a freak accident involving a fall in the bathroom.
Chris was Jef's first live-in boyfriend. I started to write "partner" just now, but that is not really a good word to describe their relationship. Plus, back then, when we were in our early 20's, we didn't really use that word that much amongst ourselves.
When Jef and Chris lived in Arlington their house was the place where we congregated on the weekends. Often we would spend whole weekends together doing nothing but talking, watching videos, and traipsing all over the DFW area in quest of CD bargains.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Jef and I were going through some of my pictures and came across some that I had taken on a trip to the Water Gardens in Ft. Worth. We looked at the people in those pictures and marveled at how much we had changed - we were so young and naive. Among those pictures was a very skinny and freshly out-of-the-closet Chris. Jef chuckled as he looked at the picture and said something about what a Queen he was even then.
To me, Chris will forever be that young man I knew back then. His dark hair just so, looking back over his shoulder as he was driving us around somewhere in his wee little car. His long, lanky limbs hanging out from under the covers on his bed as he slowly woke up on a Sunday afternoon and then took forever to get ready so we could go to "The Black Eyed Pea" for lunch. His stereo always blaring some black woman singing be it Tina Turner or Black Box.
Chris - rest in peace, sweetie. In my memory you will always be forever young.
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Jef had received a phone call from a friend back in Texas that Chris had passed away in a freak accident involving a fall in the bathroom.
Chris was Jef's first live-in boyfriend. I started to write "partner" just now, but that is not really a good word to describe their relationship. Plus, back then, when we were in our early 20's, we didn't really use that word that much amongst ourselves.
When Jef and Chris lived in Arlington their house was the place where we congregated on the weekends. Often we would spend whole weekends together doing nothing but talking, watching videos, and traipsing all over the DFW area in quest of CD bargains.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Jef and I were going through some of my pictures and came across some that I had taken on a trip to the Water Gardens in Ft. Worth. We looked at the people in those pictures and marveled at how much we had changed - we were so young and naive. Among those pictures was a very skinny and freshly out-of-the-closet Chris. Jef chuckled as he looked at the picture and said something about what a Queen he was even then.
To me, Chris will forever be that young man I knew back then. His dark hair just so, looking back over his shoulder as he was driving us around somewhere in his wee little car. His long, lanky limbs hanging out from under the covers on his bed as he slowly woke up on a Sunday afternoon and then took forever to get ready so we could go to "The Black Eyed Pea" for lunch. His stereo always blaring some black woman singing be it Tina Turner or Black Box.
Chris - rest in peace, sweetie. In my memory you will always be forever young.
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