This has been a real strange week; one that had moments of happiness, and one that had moments of sadness. Last Friday I saw some people I hadn't seen for about two years. It just really surprised me and made me happy.
The next day, however, I found out that a friend of mine, Aaron Katzman (who I knew because he was a member of the Cal Band, and was friends with several of my friends from the Band) was missing. He had gone to Arizona and Utah to celebrate receiving his architecture license. He had phoned his parents on September 30 to tell that he was going to be home the next evening. His car was found October 5 alongside I-70 in Utah after his parents reported him missing. His wallet and belongings were still inside. Over the entire day, friends from the Band and I just wondered what was going on, and we hoped that everything would be allright.
That night, I went to a Cal Ice Hockey game, and saw someone I hadn't seen since 1988 -- fellow Rally Committee member Kathy Boggs. Even though it had been so long, we still recognized each other. Seeing Kathy made me so happy that I hadn't thought of Aaron during the drive home late that night. When I got home, I had an message on the answering machine. I played it, and it was Kathy Heilmann (who was in Rally Comm and the band.); She told me me that Aaron was dead, and gave me the funeral arangements. I had difficulty sleeping that night. The first thing I did was to step outside, look up to the stars, and sing a few Cal songs. Aaron had a great love for Cal and Cal Spirit. The next thing I did was to look through the Cal Band history book, which Aaron had co-authored.
The next morning I searched AOL for any articles about Aaron's death, and found something in the San Jose Mercury News. The article relayed how his family members flew out from all parts of the country to help search. One of his brothers was walking from the car thinking "What spot would be most interesting to Aaron". He and his wife reached a hillside and the wife spotted a piece of clothing down in a ravine. The brother then used some binoculars to confirm that it was Aaron's jacket; Aaron apparently was climbing down the hillside and about halfway down, he slipped, fell, and cracked his skull. I forwarded the article to Kathy Heilmann so she could forward it to the Cal Band Alumni e-mail list, and also telephoned two other friends who knew Aaron.
Wednesday we laid Aaron to rest. It's a testemant to the number of lives he touched that the funeral home was not large enough for the number of people that came to pay their last respects. At the service, the burial, and the farewell, people recalled how Aaron was brilliant, talented, creative, humorous and full of loving, caring, sharing, and giving.
I had thought that now that I had gotten over it, but this last night, I watched Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The episode itself (The Visitor) was very emotional, and at the end, I found myself feeling choked up and then crying. I knew that it wasn't just because of the episoide itself, but I was crying for Aaron.
Actually that's made me feel much better. I didn't cry at the service or at the burial, though a lot of others did. I wasn't able to really write about this until now either. I know that when Big Game arrives, it will be strange to not see Aaron, but I know that he'll be there.