I met AH when I was 15. He was a dishwasher in the restaurant where my girlfriend waitressed. She dated him. Then he dated two other of my friends. I dated one of his good friends. He and I were just good friends. He was the guy all the girls wanted - cute, funny, loving, caring, etc. They would have a party and he would be dating 5 different girls at the party, but he was so smooth, none of them knew it. Of course, at the time, i thought this was really cool that he could pull this off so well. He was the group of "older" (18) guys we hung out with. Party party party. Toga parties all year, bunny parties at Easter, you get the picture.
One of my best friends who had dated him, loaded up a truck to move to California when she was 18 or 19. He invited himself to go with her (he thought she needed a guy to help keep her safe - she didn't want him to go, but he ended up going) She says he drank the entire time. And, they end up separating, I believe in Arizona.
When I divorced my first husband in my late 20's, I ran into him and we were inseperable. We spent a night together looking at yearbooks, drinking... the next morning we walked to a store and he asked me if he could hold my hand. From that moment on, we were almost inseparable. He had never been married. All my girlfriends warned me that he was an alcoholic. But, I ended up marrying him anyway. He treated me so much better than my X, i fell madly and passionately in love with him. It was almost unhealthy, I almost worshipped him (big problem (duh!)
He was so smart, so humble, so funny, could talk to anyone about anything... so worldy and intelligent. He could really really help people that were having problems. God gave him a gift of always knowing the right thing to say, at the right time without being a know-it-all. But, then the alcohol took over and those great qualities left him. It is so sad.
I will try to remember these good things about this man who once was a very good man.