Jimmy

I've been wanting to write about Jimmy for so long, but I've been putting it off, because it's hard...

Jimmy is my best friend, Pooh's, little brother. I didn't know him that well, because we hung out in different crowds in high school, and he was two years younger than me, but what little time I spent with him was sooo much fun. Jimmy was one of the most charismatic guys I had ever known. He had the best sense of humor ever. He had a way of gently teasing people that was hilarious.

Jimmy died in the night of June 11th to 12th, of an accidental overdose. He had been to a birthday party, and then left to go hang out at another guy's house. He was drunk, and apparently was offered a methodone. I'm not familiar with drugs, but apparently this is a prescription drug that is occasionally used recreationally. I guess alcohol and methodone don't mix very well - the combination of them lowers one's heart rate. And Jimmy just...lay on his friend's sofa and fell asleep, and then passed away in his sleep. Pooh and her family tried to get ahold of him all that day, and they couldn't reach him, and they just knew that something wasn't right, so they went on a search, from person to person: "I last saw him with so-and-so..." "I saw him leave with so-and-so..." "He went to so-and-so's house..." The trail ended at the house of a known hard drug user. Cazzie, Pooh's hubby, knocked on the door - no answer. He was so concerned and knew something just wasn't right, so he broke down the door, and there was Jimmy, on the couch. His friend didn't realize that Jimmy had passed away.

Pooh called me when she found out - she and Cazzie were driving to Murray to break the news to her mom. She called me during my son's birthday party; I just couldn't believe it. I cried and cried and cried. To watch Pooh going through this is so hard. I cannot, cannot, cannot imagine losing one of my sisters so early. It's too early.

I went to Jimmy's funeral in Salt Lake a few days later, and there were about four hundred people there. He had touched everyone. They had a very cool format - anyone could walk to the front and talk about Jimmy. Like a testimony meeting at an LDS church. So many cute stories about him. My favorite story is this: Jimmy and some friends were in Costa Rica, surfing (Jimmy was always doing fun things. I seriously could never figure out how he could afford to do so many fun things). Every day, as they walked from wherever they were staying to the beach, they would pass a ditch, and there was a dead dog in the ditch. When they would pass the dog, Jimmy would call, "Hey, Patches! Come here, Patches! Come here!!" That is exactly his personality. So funny. So charismatic. He was like a magnet - everyone wanted to hang out with him.

Oh, Jimmy, Pooh misses you so much. And I hurt for my Pooh. I love you, Pooh. I know you will get through this, and I know you will see Jimmy again.