Sympathies message

1. Mark William Paul Staufer was my dear friend for 20 years, we became very close friends over the years and some of our mutual friends thought we were dating but no we were only buddies and I wanted to keep it that way, we’d go to heavy metal shows together, shared hotel rooms, attended many summer festivities together in my hometown of beautiful Santa Barbara, CA, we barbecued, spent time at the beach, and the list goes on and on. Sadly, 8 yrs ago, we began to lose touch when I was lost my job then my housing and had to move away from SB, and a few short years later, he decided to leave SB too and moved all the way to St. Louis……and then we really lost touch. I hadnt heard from him since early last year (2019), I tried calling him and texting him without a reply, in my heart I felt that something was wrong, and then I finally wrote him a long letter, and about a week later after I mailed it to him, I got a phone call from his previous roomate who gave me the bad news that Mark had passed away, it was a total shock and all I could do was sob for days. I then found his exGF, Maggie, via FB and sent her a message and she confirmed the bad news, I was devastated. Why didnt he tell me he was sick? I would’ve flown out there to St. Louis to see him, to help him, and to just be there for him, if only I had known. And now he’s gone. One of my closest friends I’ve ever had in my 56 yrs of life is gone.

   Its really something how time flies by the older you get. We are here on earth for only a moment, to learn to love and be loved, and then when our souls are ready and our lessons learned, our bodies return to the ground and we return “home” to heaven for eternity. I believe that I will see my wonderful friend, Mark, one day again when its MY turn to go home, and when I first see him at the gates, I will greet him with open arms, and we’ll sing Rob Zombie’s song “Dragula” or a different one while we dance our “Zombie dance” the way we used to, the one that he and I made up just for us, and then we’ll continue our friendship and take up where we left off, and we’ll smile and laugh, and he’ll give me a tour of heaven, and then he’ll introduce me to my favorite singer / musician, Chris Cornell, and take me to meet Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn, etc, and he’ll look happy and healthy, and we’ll remain great friends for all eternity. So for now, every time tears come to my eyes whenever I think about him, I thank God that he was my friend all these years, and I tell myself not to worry about his soul because like he used to tell me “I was a good ole catholic boy, I was raised by nuns” , and that wipes away any doubts that he didnt make it to heaven, I KNOW he’s there, and he’s fine, he’s no longer suffering and in pain from cancer, he’s been set free! Thank you, Lord. I’m sorry for babbling so long, I wasnt really planning on writing a sympathy message here, but I DID want to talk about my close friend, Mark, and how wonderful he was, he had a great sense of humor, I loved his laugh and the way his blue eyes would light up, and his head would slightly bop up and down while laughing, we spent many many many nights together talking and listening to music, drinking beer, etc, until sunrise. He was always really easy to talk to, he always had time for me and he seemed to truly care about me and things going on in my life, we were always there for each other, we helped each other in countless ways over the years, I will NEVER EVER forget, and I will NEVER EVER forget HIM, my dear friend. Rest in Peace, Mark, I’ll always miss you, and will always love you, you’ll always be in my heart. <3

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