Friday, Jul. 07, 2023 - 4:57 p.m.

My nephew died. Not one of the ones I’m reasonably close to (ha), but the other one, the one that was 4 years older than me, my sister’s illegitimate child.

Eric, he was always kind of a loser. I saw him when I was 4 or 5 and he was 8 or 9 and he fingered me and tried to get me to play with his penis in return while we were reading Chick tracts, the closest thing to comic books he was allowed.

Next time I saw him he was 17 or 18, in some sort of disciplinary juvy lockup alternative. He liked Aerosmith.

Then when I was 18, he came to visit in FL. It was fine, he clearly partied too much. No anecdotes except my friend Maggie’s mom would let her hang out with us as long as he was there. She wasn’t wrong. But he was okay.

He turned into a guy who worked odd jobs, fell off ladders, had trouble following doctor’s orders to keep his leg from getting infected. Lived with his mom, my sister, still or again at age 54 and not because he was helping her but the opposite still, always. She found him dead on the floor, cause as yet unknown.

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