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The last conversation I ever had with my best friend was about the @Independence.
For three years, Rob and I had been partners at work. We’d spent hours and hours together on the ambulance, doing everything from discussing our preferred toothpaste to literally dealing in matters of life and death. Our partnership became the closest friendship I’ve ever had.
In 2018, our partnership ended, but the friendship remained. We stayed in touch over the next few months, but when news of a tragedy came in his personal life, I couldn’t help feeling like the best place for me to be was back in his life like I once had been.
Rob dealt with this tragedy poorly. He left the job we shared, allowed his marriage to crumble, and became aimless. He turned to an old habit of his in order to deal with the pain he was feeling. All I could do was hear him out and remind him that my family and I loved him.
I spoke to him on a Tuesday, August 28, to ask him about going to see an @Independence game together. I’d been excited to see a game for a while, maybe getting to see @JacksMilitia in action or meeting the guys from @TalkinJacks.
I imagined Rob and I getting to spend some time together in the stands, sharing some beers, singing and chanting at the top of our lungs. I imagined it being a fresh, healthy way to help him clear his mind and give me a chance to help him, just by being next to him again.
I texted him Thursday afternoon to tell him that I’d bought our tickets, in Section 102, and he could pay me back with some food at the game or something. Early on Friday morning, I was told in a phone call that my friend had died in the night. Accidental drug overdose.
Months went by. Life moved on slowly. I learned to live with the fact that the person who might be the last “best friend” I’ll ever have was gone forever. Losing him crushed so many. He was just that kind of guy. However, after time had passed, I made a decision.
I would continue on with the last plan we ever made. I became a really passionate supporter of the @Independence, almost as if I was trying to be two fans, because I kinda was. I bought the merch, I went to games, and I sang the songs all because I knew Rob never would.
Over time, @JacksMilitia embraced me as one of their own, helping to fill that empty space I felt next to me at every game. I’ll always be grateful to each and every one of them who made me feel welcome in a time when I needed friends.
As far as I’m concerned, there will never be another @Independence in my life, because that connection was born out of another singular thing in my life: the death of my best friend and the long recovery to heal the pain it caused
Whatever the future holds for the @Independence or @JacksMilitia, they have unknowingly held my head higher than I could have done on my own otherwise. I’m grateful for them in these last years. Never underestimate your ability to be exactly what someone needs. #COYJ
