Today, my friend, David, would have been 39. Instead he died when he was 25 of an AIDS-related illness(actually it was kidney failure). He told me he contracted the disease from a blood transfusion he received when he was in a motorcycle accident he was in before I met him. There were rumors that he was bisexual. Even if he was, I didn't care the least bit about his sexual orientation. We met at work and became fast friends. We used to hang around each other alot. Here was a guy who was good hearted, VERY funny, an awesome personality, not too mention good looking, and I watched him slowly slipping from me. When he was in the hospital, which was often, I visited him everyday, even when I had to work.

I went out of town for a few days, and I told his mom that when I got back, I would come see him. I got back into town, went to work, without seeing him, and when I got to work, one of my co-workers was waiting for me, and she broke the news that he died the night before. I nearly lost it. I managed to make it through work, and later was talking to another co-worker, Dawn, about him(even though he didn't work there anymore, alot of people still knew him), and I was crying. I told Dawn(who also knew him pretty well)that I never got the chance to tell him how much I loved him and she said "You didn't have to, he already knew".

I managed to make it through the funeral service without losing it, but when I saw his casket being put in the hearse, that did it. Of course, to this day, I still think about him often, and wonder how our lives would be if he was still alive.

Sorry, guys, I didn't mean to be so morbid, but 2 other people had posted about their pets dying and that to me, is heart-breaking, too.

Have any of you had a close friend die?

My sister had been diagnosed with Thyroid cancer three years ago (she is now 24 years old). She often talks about giving up her cancer treatments because she can't stand the pain anymore. She's doing better now, but she's not sure if the cancer can be cured. I've been with her at the hospital a lot lately. She can recieve all of her treatment in Canada now. She was living in Russia up until December, and didn't want to leave. Thankfully we convinced her to come here.

It's tough to watch a friend or a loved one is suffering a life-threatening disease especially when they are very young.

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your close friend.