Some bad news today, my next door neighbor growing up and throughout high school and college died a few days ago. Cause of death was not disclosed, but it has been speculated to be suicide. Unfortunately, now both of my next door neighbors and childhood friends have ended their lives in this manner. Ugh, was a shit deal.
I'm pretty sure James was the first person I met when I moved to Dallas in May of 1984. The Burke family was pretty big and had moved from New York a few years prior to our arrival. We sort of hung out together; I could be found playing video games at his house or wandering around the neighborhood doing nothing. The two things I remember most about James was his love for comics and professional boxing. When we were little, he would annually dress up at Halloween as superman, complete with tights, cape, and trademark curl of hair on the forehead. As I recall, he may have even dressed up a few other times besides Halloween. In addition to Superman, he was a big fan of comics, most notably comics of the Marvel® variety. I think he taught me about the "rivalry" between D.C comics (who made Batman) and Marvel comics (who made Superman). For all you dorks out there, if I butchered that, I don't care to know about it. Bitch to someone else at your next Star Trek convention. Anyway, James' other fascination was professional boxing. I think he learned that from his brother Paul, but nonetheless he knew every boxer, what class they were in, and what their records were. This was very impressive for an 8 year old. Over the years we sort of grew apart for two reasons 1) He was always kinda unstable growing up. Some of the time, I felt sort of uncomfortable around him. I never figured out if it was ADD or maybe even bipolar disorder, which may have developed in the later years. 2) We were separated by geography once we approached the junior high and high school years. I continued along my path in public school, while James was enrolled at a private school called Winston for kids who had symptoms/disorders I just described. So I really didn't see much of him the latter part of my life but would occasionally say hello and catch up if I saw him in the yard or somesuch. This sort of thing really gets to me. I enviably feel guilty that I don't have some of the problems other people have. Don't get me wrong, I have my fair share of problems, and maybe I just cope with some of these issues better than other people. Either way, I just wish there were ways we could deal with mental conditions better than current medical therapy allows. I've seen a lot of this stuff first hand in medical school, and these conditions are very real and very problematic. The other unfortunate thing is how wonderful James' mother is. She is probably one of the first people my mother met when we moved to Dallas. She used to be rather involved at our church and just a wonderful all-around lady. I hope my mom will get to have lunch with her soon to see how things are going. It's a shame when such good people have such misfortune. Rest in peace James.
Speaking of my church, at James' funeral my mom found out that our music director (and a million other "directorships" he currently holds) quit smoking 2 years ago. This sort of shocked me and reminded me how long I've been away and how disconnected I am from Dallas. I've known Don since my sophomore year of high school. I don't really remember how I got involved with the music ministry at my church, but I think I decided that I would approach him to see if he needed another trumpet player. I remember starting as the low guy on the totem pole, playing the Sunday evening mass with a flute player and usually another trumpet player which would switch every month it seemed. I think after a year or so (my sight-reading was dreadful at the time, which really limited how much I could do at church, because most of the music performed is handed to you 30 minutes before you actually perform it) I was promoted to the 11:00 mass where the choir sang and the full brass ensemble would perform. Ever since then, I try to get back with the group to perform as I love the music and people. Plus it actually gives me an excuse to go to church which can't help my afterlife chances. Anyway, Don has been an influential figure in my life, especially in high school. At that time in a person's life, there is so much bullshit to sort through, and it was almost comforting to have Don around as he often would help me sort through a lot of those issues. I'm sure I could write a movie about it or something. Anyway, it was good to hear that he quit, and hopefully I can hear more about it this Christmas when I'm back in the band for the holidays.
Also, the cat broke my picture frame with Bentley in it; I may have to sell him to the Chinese restaurant. Damn cats.
I'm pretty sure James was the first person I met when I moved to Dallas in May of 1984. The Burke family was pretty big and had moved from New York a few years prior to our arrival. We sort of hung out together; I could be found playing video games at his house or wandering around the neighborhood doing nothing. The two things I remember most about James was his love for comics and professional boxing. When we were little, he would annually dress up at Halloween as superman, complete with tights, cape, and trademark curl of hair on the forehead. As I recall, he may have even dressed up a few other times besides Halloween. In addition to Superman, he was a big fan of comics, most notably comics of the Marvel® variety. I think he taught me about the "rivalry" between D.C comics (who made Batman) and Marvel comics (who made Superman). For all you dorks out there, if I butchered that, I don't care to know about it. Bitch to someone else at your next Star Trek convention. Anyway, James' other fascination was professional boxing. I think he learned that from his brother Paul, but nonetheless he knew every boxer, what class they were in, and what their records were. This was very impressive for an 8 year old. Over the years we sort of grew apart for two reasons 1) He was always kinda unstable growing up. Some of the time, I felt sort of uncomfortable around him. I never figured out if it was ADD or maybe even bipolar disorder, which may have developed in the later years. 2) We were separated by geography once we approached the junior high and high school years. I continued along my path in public school, while James was enrolled at a private school called Winston for kids who had symptoms/disorders I just described. So I really didn't see much of him the latter part of my life but would occasionally say hello and catch up if I saw him in the yard or somesuch. This sort of thing really gets to me. I enviably feel guilty that I don't have some of the problems other people have. Don't get me wrong, I have my fair share of problems, and maybe I just cope with some of these issues better than other people. Either way, I just wish there were ways we could deal with mental conditions better than current medical therapy allows. I've seen a lot of this stuff first hand in medical school, and these conditions are very real and very problematic. The other unfortunate thing is how wonderful James' mother is. She is probably one of the first people my mother met when we moved to Dallas. She used to be rather involved at our church and just a wonderful all-around lady. I hope my mom will get to have lunch with her soon to see how things are going. It's a shame when such good people have such misfortune. Rest in peace James.
Speaking of my church, at James' funeral my mom found out that our music director (and a million other "directorships" he currently holds) quit smoking 2 years ago. This sort of shocked me and reminded me how long I've been away and how disconnected I am from Dallas. I've known Don since my sophomore year of high school. I don't really remember how I got involved with the music ministry at my church, but I think I decided that I would approach him to see if he needed another trumpet player. I remember starting as the low guy on the totem pole, playing the Sunday evening mass with a flute player and usually another trumpet player which would switch every month it seemed. I think after a year or so (my sight-reading was dreadful at the time, which really limited how much I could do at church, because most of the music performed is handed to you 30 minutes before you actually perform it) I was promoted to the 11:00 mass where the choir sang and the full brass ensemble would perform. Ever since then, I try to get back with the group to perform as I love the music and people. Plus it actually gives me an excuse to go to church which can't help my afterlife chances. Anyway, Don has been an influential figure in my life, especially in high school. At that time in a person's life, there is so much bullshit to sort through, and it was almost comforting to have Don around as he often would help me sort through a lot of those issues. I'm sure I could write a movie about it or something. Anyway, it was good to hear that he quit, and hopefully I can hear more about it this Christmas when I'm back in the band for the holidays.
Also, the cat broke my picture frame with Bentley in it; I may have to sell him to the Chinese restaurant. Damn cats.
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