my mom used to have a really good friend when i was little. her name was Holly. they'd known eachother since high school. i'm not sure how many of you have seen the movie Riding in Cars with Boys with Drew Barrymore, but they were like the character Drew plays and her best friend in that movie. my mom had me at almost the same exact time that Holly had her son Jeremiah. my mom was even married to Holly's brother at one point.
me and Jer would spend a lot of time together since we were about the same age. i remember wrestling with him in my basement. he was like my big brother.
eventually time got the best of our relationship, and my mom and Holly's. we all drifted apart. we used to go to the outer banks with eachother almost every year, and that had stopped. i had hung out with Jer maybe once in the past 5 years. he had gone through a lot of trouble with drugs and school, and had to go to rehab at one point. but he got better. he got much better.
two years ago in april, Holly found Jeremiah lifeless in his bed. he was very sick, and had taken a lot of medication after waking up in the middle of the night. they said that he probably died in his sleep. Jeremiah was Holly's baby, her pride, her Great Bear. he was her everything.
Jeremiah's funeral was the first funeral that i'd been to with a viewing. i can't express how awful it was. all of his friends crowded around the casket, practically bawling. even though me and him hadn't been talking as much as we used to, i can't express the pain that i felt for him, and for his family.
Jeremiah Randolph Martin, rest in peace. we love you, and always will.