"Man Shot by Deputy Dies in Hospital" My Mother had already told me about the shooting and the death. Spartanburg is not a large town. The largest part of my family and my husband's family still live in Spartanburg. A girl who was on the cheer leading squad with me in Junior High chats with my Mother in Law in the Elementary School car pool line when she picks up my niece. Another High School class mate lives in my Mom's current neighborhood. Kids that used to eat dinner with us at my house are on the Board at my old K-12 school. After we met while I was in law school, my husband and I discovered that his old girlfriend had been one grade older than me at my school and that I dated one of his two best friends one summer in high school. You get the picture.
The man who was shot was an old boyfriend. Some one I had not seen but one time since we "broke up." I was waiting tables between college and law school and he walked into the restaurant with his family. He had already married and had a small child. He and his family looked happy and we joked and caught up for a few minutes. We dated when I was in 10th grade. I do not remember how we met, or how long we dated. In 1980, when this picture was taken, we were headed to a dance at his school. I remember his Dad was a coach at the local high school. His Mom was a decorator. His older sister was a cheerleader and student at USC and his little sister was, a sweet little sister who adored the older siblings and the attention she might get from their dates. I remember going to church outings and double dating with his older sister once. They were a nice family. From what he showed me, Steve was a nice guy. I didn't go to school with him and we didn't share any friends.
Somehow twenty nine years later, Steve ended up in trouble. Some choice he made, some turn he made, took him down this path. Already, there are stories of possible drugs or alcohol and hospitalizations. His wife left him not long ago, I am told. His friends and family were helpless to help him. Dave Matthews has a song on his latest album. "Funny the way it is, no right or wrong, Someone is going hungry, someone else is eating out.... I can't help wondering how some people make it through and some people don't. How can it happen, that the life you have becomes something that you can't control. How does a nice kid, someones little boy, someones childhood friend, someones father, end up dying in their suburban yard like this. With my Mom's lifelong friend, a woman who I have known my whole life, was trapped in her house on the same street as Steve, watching as the police tried to subdue him. Funny the way it is.
