| On July 7th the world lost a great guy. His name was Brett. I knew him from CSF (where I went to school and lived for the past year). He came to my school rather late in the year but he had enough time to make an impact on the school and the people in it. I still remember the first day I met Brett. I was trying to get out of class so I went to find my counselor to see if I could call my probation officer. Well I found Steve my counselor and he had a tall, rather good-looking boy behind him. His name was Brett and he was going to be in my specials group. He introduced himself with a firm handshake and a genuine smile on his face. I have to admit I was jealous of him in the beginning. He adjusted quickly to the school which had taken me months and he wasn�t showing any struggles at the group home either. He was an addict just like me and he quickly fell into the CSF ideal recovery guy routine. I honestly think that he wasn�t like the rest of the fakers. He wasn�t there to fool everyone just like the other con artists had before. He became friends with the kids that weren�t so called �cool� and accepted everyone. He was extremely smart and funny. If he didn�t have a smile on his face he had this stern look like he could either stare you down or that he was thinking hard about something or other. Even when he was in a fight with someone (which I only witnessed once) he kept his cool and never raised his voice or got red in the face. He had a great respect for everyone. On the last day of school when we were all saying goodbyes and giving feedback to each other I told Brett how I had been jealous of him but also how proud I was of him because of how he was doing so great. He gave me a big hug and thanked me and also congratulated me and wished me luck on leaving the program. Ever since I left I have thought about only a few people I met in the CSF program. It was a part of my life I wanted to forget but Brett was one of those that I hoped to see again. The other day I found out that wouldn�t be happening ever. Brett passed away and has left probably hundreds of people to mourn him. He didn�t leave a person he met untouched. He was generally a great human being and had a true soul. You don�t meet many people like him at least not with as much potential and drive. He was the last person I ever thought this would happen to. The very last. I never knew he was depressed. He never showed a hint of it. I wish I had found out sooner so I could have paid my last respects to him. Although we weren�t the closest people in the world I still considered him my friend. My heart goes out to his family and all the other people in this world who knew him. Rest in Peace Brett. We love you. |