| R.I.P. Ben Daoust |
| 11-1984 --- 12-14-2002 |
| My eighth grade year was the most hellish of my entire life. Perrysburg, OH is a society of preps; various layers and levels of preps, but there it was. If you weren't in, you were so very, very out. My best friend Alicia and I were so far out of the social curve, they didn't even have cable out where we were. We got our water from a freaking duckpond. We weren't just losers, we weren't just outcasts, we were scapegoats...heretics...the sacrificial calves. Ben Daoust was one of the 'hot skater guys' at our school. There was a society of those too. The thing is, out of all the "it's cool to be uncool" guys, out of all of them who were so fine and stuck so far up their own asses they could see their teeth, Ben was one of the very few who would actually talk to us. He was energetic and spontaneous and laughing and Disrespect Authoratah, but there was a kindness to him... there was a quiet sense of dignity that showed he would grow up to be a smart, observant, caring, gentle man. |
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| I moved away at the end of my eighth grade year, so I never got to see what kind of person he'd make. Alicia saw little more of him, until about the middle of December '02 when she ran into him at Taco Bell. As they were leaving seperately, he said hello to her... the first time in a couple of years he'd seen her. She was surprised... he not only remembered her, but remembered the person she'd been and noticed the person she is... and greeted her. "Well, aren't you going to say hello to me?" he said jokingly. Ben, I remember, was one of those people that, without the influence of jerky friends, would always notice the "little people". |
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| Alicia and I were always up to stupid games to get the Skater guys to notice us. First of all, we renamed every skater in school... Ben was the Mushroom, for his rather large head :). There was Fruit Loops, Toucan Sam, the Macaroon, the Martini, Locker Boy and the Trix Rabbit. We were such miserable, angsty, confused and unloved girls, we made comics and games to pass our days and keep our minds off suicide. Thoughts of the guys we would never, never get to know kept us literally alive for that year. |
| Ben: Your inspiration began my career, shaped my interest, kindled my thoughts Seeing you every day was something to wake up for Thank you for your presence Thank you for your life May the next one bring you much satisfaction, joy, and most of all, love. You were a good person... |
| a not-recent picture. At least 4 years old. |
| from my 8th grade yearbook. |
| I believe in karma and reincarnation. I know he will be rewarded in the great cosmic slot-machine, and hope he isn't reborn as a flea or a paramecium. It'll be something good...I'm sure... |