I've been meaning to
tell the story of a pre-Facebook romance. Valentine's Day seems like a good day
to begin. Once upon a time, there was a man named Tony Horton. One fine spring
day (in maybe 2000) as I was coming or going from an apartment I had been sharing
with a very young Sam, in Newton, Iowa, Tony pulled up next to me in his Suburban
& said, "I've noticed you around. You have this amazing smile. I was
wondering, 'Would you go out with me?'" I did.
I went to see Tony
perform in a play. He took me kayaking. We watched a wrecking ball demolish a
building & visited the zoo with Sam.
When I met him, Tony
already had plans in place to move to New Hampshire. Obviously, his move
impacted our relationship but didn't end it. For a long time, our adventures
continued. We were last in touch in 2006 or 2007, sometime after Sam, Cam,
& I had moved to California.
A little while ago, a
map of the world reminded me of Tony. I decided to try to find him on Facebook.
I found an obituary instead.
I wrote his sister
saying that while she & I hadn't spent much time together I had
visited Tony at a home he, she, her husband, & two dogs had been sharing
near Mt. Sunapee in New Hampshire. I told her how I remember being very
impressed by the depth of the snow and that Tony had taken me skiing. I shared
some other memories, too.
She let me know that on 12/19/13 she got a call from the police letting her know that Tony had died of an accidental overdose of opioids. When she & I connected it was the five year anniversary of that day. I don't know if Fentanyl was or wasn't involved in Tony's death.
My clothes are dry.
Going to stop there for today but will look forward to sharing more about this
amazing man I once knew named Tony Horton.
