Thirty one years ago I was privileged to have participated in the Upward Bound program which took inner city youth to a prestigious prep school for six weeks in the summer. The purpose was to help us improve our math and reading skills thereby increasing our chances of getting into college. My participation and subsequent post testing landed me a scholarship to attend the boarding school full time starting as a sophomore. The rest they say is history. But during the two summers I attended Upward Bound I made some lasting friendships.
Well today while I was out doing my church rounds I ran into a fellow UB student. The conversion went something like this (I've omitted the names for obvious reasons)
TD: Hey Dane how you doin'?
DB: Great! How long has it been?
TD: Years. Say whatever happened to the guy what's his name? You know who I'm talking about.
DB: Short, big afro, always flirting with the girls, married my sister and had three kids, divorced and moved away?
TD: Yeah that's the one.
DB: He came back to Ohio and then passed away a three years ago.
TD: Oh. What about that big girl who wanted to do stand up comedy?
DB: Oh I ran into her a couple years ago. She did do an open mike night once. She passed away shortly after that.
TD: What about that girl you dated right out of high school?
DB: I saw her last year. She had some health issues and died shortly after I saw her.
He got this strange look on his face and told me he had to go. I didn't think much of it until I was driving away. It seems that everyone from UB (except my sisters) that I have run into during the past three years have all died. And I just ran into him. Coincidence? Yeah probably. But if he kicks the bucket then I will have proof positive that I am the Angel of Death.
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