Brian was one of the 32 people killed on Monday. I wish I could say he was my friend, but in fact he was not. He was a member of a message board I frequent about Detroit sports, motownsports.com. I probably only corresponded with him a half dozen times, tops. But he was a prolific poster on the board, and a Huge Detroit Tigers fan. His kindness, humility, intelligence, and overall goodness shown through in his posts. And he was one of the most respected posters on the site. He had a Hobbes Tiger avatar and whenever I saw that Hobbes I stopped and read what he had to say.
Thing is, this guy that I barely knew, his death has greatly affected me. I don't know why. Maybe it's the world we live in today, where someone you don't know personally has the opportunity to affect your life. Heck, I'd never even seen a picture of him before Monday night. And his death hits me more than I would have expected.
The whole board is shocked. Like I said, he was respected. Tuesday night, the Tigers had a moment of silence before their game and mentioned Brian. Curtis Granderson, the Tigers' centerfielder has spoken about Brian; he was one of Curtis' friends on MySpace. He has been mentioned on tv and in newspapers locally.
Brian was a great guy and his death was horrible. He was working on a master's degree in hydrology and was 2 weeks from graduating. He wanted to work to find solutions for fresh water treatment throughout the world.
I just wanted to tell others about him so he wouldn't be forgotten.