Goodbye Jessica

It's raining today. It's been too long since we've had a good, solid rain. It is very good that we have this weather on this solemn day. Jessica was found last night in her apartment after missing since Sunday night. She was found dead, cause unknown.

The first time I met Jessica was at Ira's house on Thanksgiving. She and Jeremy arrived after we had feasted. I'm not really sure if we talked at all except to compliment her on her fabulous dress. She was the quiet observer. After that night, I didn't see her again until my birthday party at Chris' house. She came to the party, invited by Chris, and proceeded to spend the whole night with him. Around 4am when the rest of the guests were leaving, she stayed behind. And that is how their relationship began.

I didn't have the opportunity to get to know her well, but I did like the times I did get to spend with her. She had a great mind and would say the oddest things. It was often hard to hear her because she had a tendency to mumble. The last time we hung out was at the zoo. She called all of the animals "snacks" and was very mad at the people who brought their dogs to the bunny gathering in the park.

The hardest part so far is watching Chris torture himself over 'what ifs'. Last night, after he found out, he went over to Tony's. He was the last person to talk to Jessica on Sunday. They hadn't hung out that weekend because Chris' brother was in town. Jessica hated staying at home alone and wanted to come over on Sunday night. Being that Chris had to be up at 5am to take his brother to the airport, he asked if they just wait to hang out again until Monday night. So, they made dinner plans.

Even though they dated for 4 months, Jessica never took Chris to her apartment. He knew what building she lived in, but did not know the apartment. When he couldn't get a hold of her on Monday, he thought it strange. As the week progressed, he started calling anyone he could think of. After a missing person claim had been reported to the police, her mom came down with a key and found her in her apartment.

He wants to go back in time and tell her to come over. She would still be alive then, right? We'll never know. He is in so much pain and misses her more than he ever thought he would. It happened so suddenly and nothing can be fixed.

It's hard for Tony because he doesn't know what to say to Chris. He wants to make him feel better and reassure him that there was nothing he could do and it can't be changed. He also can't help but think, "What if I lost Kris all of a sudden?" You want to make sure that if someone were to die unexpectedly, you said everything to them you wanted to say. But relationships aren't like that.

It's going to be hard for everyone to reconcile Jessica's death until we know what happened. People aren't supposed to just up and die at 30 years old, but they do. You are missed, pretty lady. It was too soon.