(This is in memory of Ken Robertson, a very close friend of mine, who was killed in a car accident in Ottawa on Friday, August 27, 2004. The letter I wrote in 2005 is in limbo at the moment, and I don’t recall where 2007’s letter went, but my 2006 letter can be found at http://iandouglas.com/letter-to-ken)
Hey Buddy,
Today is the 4th anniversary of you leaving us. I’m tempted to make you a Facebook profile so friends can coordinate online, but frankly, many of them do already. I often wonder whatever happened to the two police officers who hit you head on, how their recovery was, and what they’re doing today. I’ve tried contacting the various writers who wrote your story in Ottawa newspapers to find out (not their names, just their recovery) but never got a reply.
Whenever I have some free time and want to do any gaming and think about loading up EverQuest, I remember the good times we had playing, and running various guilds together, etc. Good times. Did we ever play anything but EverQuest or WarCraft 3?
I have a confession to make – I don’t drink Coke any more. I’m a Dr Pepper guy now, and prefer Diet to Regular, but since I’ve declared August 27th “Drink a Coke Day,” I’m sure to come home from work thoroughly buzzed on Coca-Cola. I can’t help but think of the many poker nights with you and Paul and whoever else was around, playing with whatever we could shake out of our piggybanks, and one of us inevitably walking home with 50lb of spare change at the end of the night, amped up on caffeine from drinking WAY too many cans of Coke.
I’m gonna be a daddy soon, and wish you could come visit California. You’d love it here.
As usual, this time of year tends to make me very introspective of my beliefs as a Christian, and wondering if I’m making any sort of positive impact on people around me. A coworker and I have discussed various churches in the area, and Elizabeth and I found a church we think we like (finally!) and hope to get into a new home group next Sunday, and I’m hopeful that that works out for us. I wish I’d been able to get you into a home group in Ottawa, I think the positive influence of some other Christian friends might have helped you through any rough times that I couldn’t be there for.
I wish I didn’t have to live with the guilty feelings of how I remember our last conversations about money, and I must admit that I’m back to my old self of “doing business with friends”, but this time around I’m trying hard not to worry about the nickels and dimes so I can see other friends succeed, and wish I’d had the same mentality when we were trying to build our web hosting business. I see someone bought your old candigital.com domain name and has it parked with a ‘for sale’ sign in the domain record. How tacky.
Do you think you’d still be at that radar station in Gatineau, or would you have looked for other work?
If I ever get out east, I’ll drop by to say hello.
Much love,
Ian