Personal: I've lost a good friend

There's nothing quite like finding out a good friend of yours has been killed in car crash. When I got the email that my friend, Bruce Six, was dead at 34, my jaw literally dropped. I simply stared at the screen, not able to grasp what I was reading. The idea that the guy who I just spoken with on the phone two weeks before was no longer in existence, really blew my mind. I kept thinking all day afterwards that I needed to give him call, then realizing that he's not going to answer. I had to resist a strange temptation to call anyway, in some kind of hopes that he would pick up.

When my grandmother passed away a few years ago, it was easier to accept--she had lived a full life and was, let's face it, elderly. It was still very sad and I have fond memories of my grandmother, but this was different. Bruce still had kids--his son, the same age as my daughter, used to drive her around a field out back on a go-kart while they cheered loudly.

Bruce, being an incredible mechanic, would often help me, my brother, and friends keep our POS cars running. Several years ago he broke down my entire transmission to check the synchronizers and put it back together in less than 3 hours--I still drive on that transmission in this Mustang today. Bruce's real auto love was his 1970 Chevy Nova that ran 10s at the local track.

Bruce was one of the "original" crowd of LAN-party gamers in San Angelo, Texas. We started out playing Unreal Tournament and its early successors, but I turned him on to Battlefield 1942, and our bud, Jimmy, showed us the Desert Combat mod for it. When Battlefield 2 came out, we all frothed at the mouth. We spent numerous late nights driving tanks, firing rockets, and manning 50 cal machine guns all while yelling loudly, sometimes waking up the kids. Bruce was the best helicopter pilot there was in the game on any server. Those were some of the best nights of my life.

I recorded a lot of BF2 helicopter fights we used to have, complete with Bruce yelling wildly in microphone, but I don't think I can go back and listen to any of them--too painful. Bruce was a great guy and will be sorely missed. Rest in peace, my friend.