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May 10, 1964 - December 31, 2006
When I arrived home from work this evening there was a call on the answering machine from Seamaus. He had run into a mutual friend of ours today, James Howard (who used to play in Dragon's Laire as James Del Emrys). He told Seamaus that Byron had died late in December. I was surprised as hell. Byron was only a few years older then me. I sat in shock for a few minutes and then Googled him to find out the details. It seems that Byron had died from some brain aneurysm, part of which was caused by complications from diabetes.
I first met Byron when I was a Senior in High School. We used to play in a D&D Role Playing group. Every Friday night we'd meet over at another friend's house and slay evil creatures for hours and hours and hours. He loved playing thieves, especially since his personality so fit that of a leprechaun, full of mischief and slightly naughty fun. But Byron could be counted as a good friend as well, always there when needed.
When I moved out of the home I moved into a house with him and several other guys. We cheerfully called our home the 'Zombie Zone'. Besides Byron and myself we had James Del Emrys and Richard of Sussex (Oaf) as our other room-mates. We used to get into all kinds of trouble. Every weekend was a total party and we didn't count it as a successful weekend unless the Port Orchard Piglets (our polite term for the local police) had paid us a visit to threaten us with arrest or worse if we didn't close our party down.
Byron could always be counted upon to keep an eye on us no matter how stupid we managed to get. Several times when we were off to mess with the Piglets he would be there to smooth things over and get us out of trouble. I probably still have a job at the Shipyard because of his fast talking and quick thinking.
We loved to go to concerts, just like all of our friends. I still remember a Guns 'n Roses concert where he and I teamed up to chase women all over the place. What a good time we had. I was normally shy as hell, but after drinking a pint of vodka, I was in rare form. But he was the one that basically persuaded the women that we were not all that bad and that they'd get a better view from on top of our shoulders. :-)
There was another time when we were at a 7-11 in Port Orchard. We had been drinking (as usual on a Friday night :-)) and decided we needed to take a bunch of the milk crates stacked outside and bring them home to build a bookcase. Boy, we were not exactly the most intelligent guys in the world. The Port Orchard Piglets were sitting there across the road watching us do this. Probably laughing their head's off. They followed us for a couple of miles before pulling us over. They put us in handcuffs and terrorized us for a good half hour before giving us citations and letting us go. When we appeared before the judge a few weeks later, it was Byron who explained the whole thing to the judge and the way he explained it was so funny that the judge could only stare at us for a while, knowing that if he said anything he'd burst out laughing. We ended up paying a $50 fine and a suspended sentence. The Port Orchard Independent certainly painted us out to be hardened criminals though. I still have the newspaper clipping from that time. It is a short, but funny read. I have to smile every time I see it. :-)
We kind of drifted apart here about five or six years ago. He was settling down with a girl in Port Orchard. We both had started getting our lives straightened out a few years before that. The heavy party scene was too hard on the body and so we both had pretty much quit. I thought about looking him up a number of times over the years, but never seemed to find the time. Wish I had now.
The universe can be a harsh teacher. It is important that you let your friends and family how much you care for them and love them. Do it today. You may not get the chance tomorrow.
Good Bye, Byron, I miss you Dude.
Aaron.
When I arrived home from work this evening there was a call on the answering machine from Seamaus. He had run into a mutual friend of ours today, James Howard (who used to play in Dragon's Laire as James Del Emrys). He told Seamaus that Byron had died late in December. I was surprised as hell. Byron was only a few years older then me. I sat in shock for a few minutes and then Googled him to find out the details. It seems that Byron had died from some brain aneurysm, part of which was caused by complications from diabetes.
I first met Byron when I was a Senior in High School. We used to play in a D&D Role Playing group. Every Friday night we'd meet over at another friend's house and slay evil creatures for hours and hours and hours. He loved playing thieves, especially since his personality so fit that of a leprechaun, full of mischief and slightly naughty fun. But Byron could be counted as a good friend as well, always there when needed.
When I moved out of the home I moved into a house with him and several other guys. We cheerfully called our home the 'Zombie Zone'. Besides Byron and myself we had James Del Emrys and Richard of Sussex (Oaf) as our other room-mates. We used to get into all kinds of trouble. Every weekend was a total party and we didn't count it as a successful weekend unless the Port Orchard Piglets (our polite term for the local police) had paid us a visit to threaten us with arrest or worse if we didn't close our party down.
Byron could always be counted upon to keep an eye on us no matter how stupid we managed to get. Several times when we were off to mess with the Piglets he would be there to smooth things over and get us out of trouble. I probably still have a job at the Shipyard because of his fast talking and quick thinking.
We loved to go to concerts, just like all of our friends. I still remember a Guns 'n Roses concert where he and I teamed up to chase women all over the place. What a good time we had. I was normally shy as hell, but after drinking a pint of vodka, I was in rare form. But he was the one that basically persuaded the women that we were not all that bad and that they'd get a better view from on top of our shoulders. :-)
There was another time when we were at a 7-11 in Port Orchard. We had been drinking (as usual on a Friday night :-)) and decided we needed to take a bunch of the milk crates stacked outside and bring them home to build a bookcase. Boy, we were not exactly the most intelligent guys in the world. The Port Orchard Piglets were sitting there across the road watching us do this. Probably laughing their head's off. They followed us for a couple of miles before pulling us over. They put us in handcuffs and terrorized us for a good half hour before giving us citations and letting us go. When we appeared before the judge a few weeks later, it was Byron who explained the whole thing to the judge and the way he explained it was so funny that the judge could only stare at us for a while, knowing that if he said anything he'd burst out laughing. We ended up paying a $50 fine and a suspended sentence. The Port Orchard Independent certainly painted us out to be hardened criminals though. I still have the newspaper clipping from that time. It is a short, but funny read. I have to smile every time I see it. :-)
We kind of drifted apart here about five or six years ago. He was settling down with a girl in Port Orchard. We both had started getting our lives straightened out a few years before that. The heavy party scene was too hard on the body and so we both had pretty much quit. I thought about looking him up a number of times over the years, but never seemed to find the time. Wish I had now.
The universe can be a harsh teacher. It is important that you let your friends and family how much you care for them and love them. Do it today. You may not get the chance tomorrow.
Good Bye, Byron, I miss you Dude.
Aaron.
