It has been just over a year since I last spoke with my friend Martin. It has also been just over a year since he passed away. It is still hard to fathom that he’s no longer here.

Martin & I became friends in North Carolina. We shared an office together and became really good friends. When I first heard that I would have a new officemate I was a little hesitant. At that point I was already disgusted with two of the five people on my team; would sitting a new person with me make it any better? I was pretty happy to find out that it did.

On the surface Martin and I were opposites. He was a 6′-2″, bald, white male and I’m a 5′-8″ tall, hair obsessed Asian. He had a kid, I had dogs. What we did share in common, though, was more than the superficial. We were very honest and outspoken with one another. We would regularly take turns playing music over the web, go out to lunch and confide in each other about our various personal and professional problems.

The time that we shared in our office were good times filled with lots of talk, teaching and learning. We had become very, very good friends who relied on one another to see each other through a fairly counter-productive and hostile work environment. Happily, our friendship extended beyond the office and we went out for drinks and dinners after hours.

When I left my North Carolina job Martin was pretty bummed. He knew the work that he would inherit as well as the headaches that came along with it. When I moved back up to Northern Virginia we would talk on the phone or email each other every other week. We’d talk about each other’s families, he would unload about his numerous problems at work and I would tell him about my job. We even planned to have him come up and visit us. Martin was good people.

I spoke to Martin on the phone a week before he passed away. He was of good spirits, full of gossip and he enjoyed reminiscing about farting around in the office together. Our last words to each other were along the lines of “I miss having you around”, “you take care, good buddy”, and “I’ll be sure to call you in two weeks”.

I called and it was just a few days after he passed away. I tried his cell phone and his home phone to no avail.

Martin Jevicky was good people. He was a good friend and colleague who only wished the best for his family. He was willing to do anything to make sure that his little boy was taken care of. While I was in North Carolina I depended on his friendship to help carry me through a pretty difficult situation. For all that he has given me I’ll always be in his debt.