Alcoholism - My Friend Jeff Myers

My friend Jeff was remarkable. He was the room mate of a friend - and that's how Brian and I met him in the fall of 1969.

Jeff had a full voice scholarship to O.U. However, he eventually gave that up to sing rock and roll. Brian and Jeff started a band in 1971 - it was still going strong (without Brian) when disco became popular and the live music scene dwindled. Their name was XEBEC. Brian found the word in a dictionary.

Through the years - we partied with Jeff - we vacationed with Jeff - we played music with Jeff. He was ALWAYS part of our lives. Always. There is hardly a room in my home that does not have something from Jeff in it: a poem, a piece of Frankoma, framed art on the wall, photography... Jeff is everywhere in my home. I'll bet I have 50 photos of Jeff throughout the years.

I got mad at him many years ago. He'd drink and then take his "stupid" pills.... and on one occasion he not only let my dog out the front door several times, he also gave the dog a table scrap of steak with a toothpick still in it. THAT was it: now I'm perpetually mad at Jeff.

But, of course, life goes on... and about 1994 we hook Jeff up with Darrell - and Jeff becomes an audio tech like me. He travels to Bosnia. He's in the hole where they found Saddam Hussein. He was in Afghanistan right after the statutes at Bamiyan were destroyed. I have prints of Jeff's snapshots in the dining room. I keep kitchen utensils in a vase Jeff bought me at Pier One. There's a handwritten poem on the cork board right behind this monitor - it's there right now. Can you see it?

I have all these reminders of Jeff. And I'm STILL MAD. Still mad that such a bright light would extinguish itself so early.

I depended on him to cover for me in 2005 and in 2006. He'd run audio if it was a late night shoot. If it was in a bar where there was smoking. If I just didn't feel like it: Jeff would cover for me.

Then - things started getting weird. He was breaking up with his girlfriend.... No.. he wasn't breaking up - but she was moving out. He was robbed while walking home from Campus Corner. It happened again while visiting his parents in Bartlesville. He had a black eye. Another black eye. He couldn't find the address of the shoot. "Jeff? It's RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER, DAMNIT. TURN LEFT! SEE MY CAR?"

He died August 8, 2006 after spending several days on life support. He'd been taking sedatives and washing them down with liquor. When he fell - it was a simple fall in the living room. And such a common occurrence that his girlfriend didn't stop to check on him. She stepped right over his body and walked into his kitchen to check to see if he had enough groceries. He didn't. So she stepped back over him and went to the store.