I drank beer with him. I loaned him pinches of Grizz and he reciprocated. My girlfriend dated him in middle school. He would get laughing and wouldn’t be able to stop, tearing up from his own endless string of deep chuckles. More importantly, though, if you needed a hand from him, he wouldn’t hesitate to lend it.
And now he’s gone.
I write about sports, which is primarily what this blog is reserved for. But sports don’t always seem important. Sometimes, sports are a vehicle of escaping a reality that you just can’t or don’t want to accept. Sometimes, sports stop becoming an obsession or a passion and become trivial in the grand scheme of everything that is happening.
This is one of those times.
When I heard the news this morning, my words were extremely limited. There were more questions than there were answers, but all I could muster to say into the phone was “What?” “Are you serious?” and “Holy Shit…” I didn’t want to hear it, believe it, know it was real. And really, I still don’t want to believe it, even though I know that I have to.
Death is something that happens. It’s not something that’s easy, something that you desire to happen, but it’s a cruel reality. However, it shouldn’t be a reality that befalls a young man in his early 20s. That’s much too soon. That’s not the way things are supposed to happen.
He was loved. As soon as the news hit, there was an instant outpouring over the loss of a good friend, a good man. He was simply the type of person that you can’t replace and the type of person that will endure in the thoughts and memories of anyone that had the pleasure of being in his company.
I’m not sure why this memory stands out, but it’s vivid to me. We were at a party at a mutual friend’s house and he had on a new Nike t-shirt. Someone complimented him on the shirt and he then proceeded to inform everyone that he had bought the shirt earlier in the day for the sole purpose of wearing it to that party. He was there to have fun and he wanted to look the part.
Ryan Gordon spoke the sentiments everyone was feeling when he sent out this message:
hendo will never be the same…peery was everyones best friend #RIP
— Ryan (@The_RGeezus) August 14, 2013
That’s really who he was. He was your best friend. It didn’t matter if you saw him every day, once a month, or a few times a year. When you saw him, he acted like you had been chilling with him all along. If you just wanted to shoot the shit, he was down for it. If you needed him to have your back in some sort of conflict, he’d lead the way. Though he’d probably be too tough to ever admit it, he cared about his friends more than most people will ever be able to.
The world, Hendersonville, North Carolina in particular, lost one of its best today. I’ll never forget him and I will forever wish he was there with my friends and I.
Rest in Peace, Michael Peery. Love you, brother.
