| I
used to come over to Jeremy's house a lot when I was around eleven or
twelve--when things were kind of bad in my life. I always felt
better when I came over here because I knew I was with people that
cared for me and would look out for me, which I needed. When I
came back to visit two winters ago, I hadn't seen much of Jeremy for a
while, but I felt like we were still connected in a way that wasn't
fading or changing with time. We could still goof around
together, but Jeremy also seemed to understand me in a deeper
way. One night I had been going through a rough moment, and when
I went back to see Jeremy--he was watching TV--he said to me, "Been
feeling bad?" in a sincere matter of fact way. I said "yeah" and
then we moved on to watching TV. In a really simple way he
acknowledged my feelings and was understanding and supportful in an
unspoken way. He didn't talk much about what he thought and felt
all the time, but at moments, like that one, you'd get a glimpse of the
compassion he was capable of. Penny and David have been really
important to me. Thank you. Peter Ortner (Peter is a few years older than Jeremy and has known him all his life. Here's a photo of Peter and Jeremy. And here's a story about Jeremy and Peter from Barbara and Lance Factor.) |