The majority of the friends I made during my days at Ohio State lived in my dorm on North Campus freshman and into sophomore year. Good ol' Taylor Tower. Given that we were off on our own for the first time, we really developed a strong bond and became like a little family.
Fast forward 12 years (wow, we're old) and we're all in good but different places in life, and as life goes, you tend to grow apart a bit. I hadn't spoken to some of my old roommates in years when one of them called out of the blue this past spring. Alayna was in tears - our good friend Jamison had suddenly passed away. Unreal. I'm as shocked today as I was the day I first heard the news in May. He was found dead in his apartment, but we do not know what happened and can only hope he felt no pain and knew how much we loved him.
The last time I saw Jamison May was Memorial Day weekend of 2009. My high school girlfriends and I went to Baltimore for the long weekend, the city that Jamison called home since he graduated a proud Buckeye. Here we are together for what would be the last time.
Jamison was literally one of the first people I met at Ohio State. He lived in the room next door to me, and I remember going to the dining hall together with him and his roommate Kris one of the first days at school. He was always a very easy person to talk to - genuinely listened and gave his best advice or words of encouragement whenever needed. His smile was like a warm hug, his voice like an angel when he sang and most of all, I'll remember his laugh. More of a hearty giggle, really, and you couldn't help but join in.
As a way to create something good out of this tragedy, my old roommate Heather got the crew back together in mid-October for a visit back on campus - the first time some of us had seen each other in over 6 years. We had talked about a reunion forever and with Jamison gone, we only wished we had done it sooner. But, we know he was looking down on us, happy that he brought us together again and just as jealous as we were about all the cool new buildings and upgrades the students have now. So not fair.
To Julie, Beau, Susan, Heather, Alison, Alayna and Ty - damn, we look good! Truly amazing to see everyone and hope to do it again soon.
To Kris, Kevin, and Chris - we wish you could have been there with us, but mark my words, we WILL have another reunion and we won't wait another 6+ years to do it.
To Heather - thank you for representing all of us at Jamison's funeral and for rallying the group to get back together. You've always been such a dear friend to Jamison, and I know he's grateful.
To Jamison - thank you for being such a wonderful friend since we met that day in September of 1999. You were always the type of person I could look up to. I'll miss you, Jamisonian.
