Bat

[diffrentcolours]

I posted this to social media on Wednesday. I meant to post it here but I haven't been on my laptop much recently.

I woke up this morning to learn that Bat is no longer with us. One of my oldest and dearest friends, we met via Usenet in the late 90s. We flirted shamelessly on ICQ late at night when I had lectures in the morning.

We drifted in and out of touch for a while in the noughties, but always managed to bump into each other again, often with a new handle, name, or pronouns. It seemed a wonderful inevitability that we would always be in each other's lives, and I am sad beyond words that this is no longer true.

I'm so glad we managed to meet in person a few years ago when he came to the UK, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn about the friends we had in common or at one remove. I remember going to Cane & Grain for his opinion on Texas ribs ("good ribs, but this is a South Carolina sauce"), and introducing him to a lamb Sunday roast. He was the first guest in my house's spare bedroom and we've referred to it as "Bat's room" ever since. We often talked about when he might come stay again.

We shared monsterfucking memes and videos of hench women (he was always looking for someone who could bench press him). I'll always get a funny tingle and think of him when I see a black nitrile glove, and I honestly can't think of a better commemoration.

Goodbye Batrick. You'd better come haunt my dreams. I love you.

Comments

[barakta]

I'm sorry, it is very hard when people die, especially suddenly.

It sounds like you have very good memories of him.

[diffrentcolours]

It is! We were talking about his plans for the next few months, only a few days before he passed.