Just haven’t felt like writing and really haven’t had the time.

We went to the beach party memorial for Ben last night. Jody was a rock. He was walking out to see a friend whose handicap prevented her from making it all the way out to the festivities when we first got there. I gave him a hug, said how sorry I was, and he just gave us a big Jody smile saying something like, “Look at all the people Ben touched while he was here!”

And he was right. I estimate close to 200. We had to walk 1/2 mile to get to the beach because there were so many cars parked along the road getting to the beach. Good thing we had that tacky Budweiser cooler on wheels Wreggie won at the Divi Superbowl party! This is a picture of Ben and Darin. Darin died a few weeks before Ben did. Both of them worked at Savant.

Anyway, I had started crying even before getting ready to go there. And I knew I’d stupidly be drinking my bottle of red wine I’d bought a few days before (and wine makes me cry, too). So Michael valiantly put up with me all night.

We talked to Carsten and Amanda when we first arrived. Then Cindy, Ditty, Lesley, Tito and Sue, Peter and Aaron, etc. And we saw lots of friends we didn’t have time to talk to. There was a slide show going on with fun pictures of Ben and family and friends, and a bonfire and awful music, but Kurt would be playing later.

By 10pm (we’d gotten there around 6:30) I was ready to get home, having demolished my bottle and snacked on cheese and crackers we shared with a few folks. So home we went.

We lost another dear one this week.

Michael and I just found out this evening as we visited Peter and Heike (freshly home from Germany) at the Deep End.

We met Ben at the Deep End when he’d first moved here to be closer to his brother, Jody. He was very inexperienced and nervous as a waiter, but his great personality came out shortly and he became one of our wonderful, loving, island family.

Ben was found by Jody yesterday, eternally asleep in his apartment. We don’t know the details, but Jody is not answering his phone, as we can understand.