I last spoke with my friend on April 14th 2007 and we had a great conversation. We spoke for about 1 hour 30 mins. Everything seemed to be A-OK. My friend was a real healthy eater and was always jogging and going to the gym. It wasn't til 3 days ago when I tried to call him and I noticed that his voice mail had changed to the standard computer default message. I left a message and had a funny feeling. The next day I called back and got the voice mail again. My heart began to sink as I was fearing the worst. I was going to google him but I was afraid of what I might find. Instead I wrote him a brief e-mail asking him to call me back and hoping everything was well. The yesterday came and I still heard no word and then realized he hadn't called me about the whole Virgina Tech thing. He has been living in Virgina for the last 4 yrs. I sat down in front of my computer and googled his name. My heart sank and I went numb when I saw the results. My dear friend and father figure was gone for good. He passed 7 days after I talked to him last and 2 days before the Virgina Tech killing. I am grateful that I listened to my gut feeling because his services are late tomorrow morning and it's only 40 miles from home here in California and it's even on my day off. There was something in my head that said google him. I am still in shock and I don't think this will set in until tomorrow. My wife and I spent the evening putting together a picture collection for his family to remember him. He played a part in my wife and I getting together.
Stephen Michael Patras 8/18/48 to 4/21/07