Journal for 3 Oct 2007: Kelly Dunks, RIP
My phone at work rang a little after 3:00 this afternoon, and I picked it up to find Lisa sobbing on the other end. I had a brief moment of panic wondering if Mathias was OK, but a few seconds later I finally made out what she was saying. Kelly, a good friend of hers from her time working at Hamline, was dead.
Kelly was an interesting guy. I got to know him after a while, and he, Lisa and I even hung out from time to time. (That included one ridiculous trip to the northern suburbs last year to hit one of the few theaters still playing Cars. We ended up being the only people in the entire theater.) I could use a lot of words to describe him: Friendly, goofy, neat… Kind of a stereotypical gay man, but not to the extent it would be commonly found annoying. He was smart, too, a Harvard grad who didn’t make much noise about the fact.
I’m not sure how our place became the designated gathering spot, but there’s now a large group of people out in the sunroom, all friends of Kelly, talking on phones, checking email and sharing whatever information they have. Right now no one has much, just speculation and accounts of the last time they saw him.
I should be studying. I guess I felt weird going ahead with my classwork without saying something first.
I’m sure there will be more on this later.
I, too, am a friend of Kelly’s, and today was a sad day indeed. Here’s what I do know — he left work early Monday, missed work Tuesday, and then they found him today when his boss was concerned that she hadn’t heard from him. I’m concerned that he may have had a relapse of his addiction, but I hope it was just something natural that caused his death. No matter the cause, though, we will all miss his quiet nature and kind spirit, and trust that he’s in a better place now. We will all miss Kelly in our own ways…Rest in Peace, Kellard. You’ll be missed.
Comment by Friend of Kelly's — 20071004 -