Wednesday – 30 January 2019
I’m going to tell you a story about a friend of mine named Jason.

Jason

I first met Jason in almost 20 years ago, when he was dating the daughter of the person I was dating at the time. He was quick-witted and funny, and like many late teens/early twenty-year-olds you’d meet: Ready to take on anyone and anything that stepped up to him.

After that, we mostly stayed in touch via IRC; I managed a Utah-specific channel of which Jason was a member. I lost track of him over the years, but our paths crossed again at my local comic shop, when he came in to play a game that I was judging. I didn’t recognize him at first, as it had been close to – if not more than – ten years since we’d seen each other. Once we put two and two together, there were a lot of wide eyes and dropped jaws in the store, as we recounted the story of how we knew each other.

Once again, Life took us in different directions, but I’d see Jason from time to time. He was still taking on the world his way, now he was writing, directing, and producing independent horror films.

Jason, on the set of Day Zero

I ran into him a few weeks ago, at the Jim Lee signing event at my comic shop. He even got a picture of me in the background, while he was getting something signed.

Jim Lee and Jason

I ran into him again a few days ago, while Sara, the girls, and I were out shopping.

Last night, I heard from another friend that Jason died yesterday. From an overdose. Needless to say, I was stunned. I had no idea that he was using, let alone struggling with addiction. My heart goes out to his family and friends.

That being said, if you are struggling – be it with addiction, depression, anxiety, “Life, the Universe, and Everything,” or just…”whatever” – you are not alone. In a time when so many things around us make us feel isolated and different, let me just say that if you need to talk, go out for coffee, or just sit somewhere until things feel a little better, let me know.

In a strange bit of serendipity, this morning, Facebook presented me with a memory from a couple of years ago. Jason made the second comment on that post. Well played, Universe.

Please be good to yourself and to those around you.

Namaste.