Regarding Eddie

I have a friend who is a murderer. You would never have guessed it to look at him. He's kind of an overgrown kid, prone to nervous laughter and a fantastical view of the world. When I first met Eddie though another friend, he talked to me about the power of the mind. He said that I could use these self hypnosis tapes to improve everything in my life. I mumbled something about not being quite happy with mediocrity, but he made me take a tape back with me. Of course, I fell asleep listening to it. We kept in touch throughout the years- occasionally he would join my group of friends for a movie, a fishing trip or just a drink at someone's house. Eddie began to get increasingly involved in Eastern philosophy and would call me at work to read me some passage from the Dalai Lama, insisting that as a part Asian, this was my heritage. He'd try to talk to me and the other guys about the possibility of astral travel. We'd laugh at the idea of sending your spirit to travel around the world, but Eddie was always good natured about our reactions. He would just laugh along with us. His good nature was something that I always enjoyed about him.

So, how does this bring us to murder? To be honest, I'm not really sure. One day, Eddie started a relationship with a woman named Anna- a sweet woman that he saved from an abusive relationship. They dated for almost ten years- sometimes going out with my wife and I. Often, they would break up and Eddie would be despondent, but they always seemed to find their way back together. Eventually, they had a child together- a wonderfully messy boy that always seemed to have a face smeared with chocolate. On a couple occasions, I remember kicking the boy and the father out of my office for smearing chocolate across my furniture and wall. Eddie would laughingly apologize, then call me later with yet another quote from the Dalai Lama.

During Eddie's last breakup with Anna, he was living in a small room in a house near a park. He seemed to be the normal Eddie- doing well at his job in Albertson's as a meat cutter, enjoying the simple pleasures of an occasional movie and trying to spend as much time with his son as possible.

Then, one weekend, I received several calls from Eddie's mother. When I called her back, I found out that Eddie had been arrested for throwing Anna off a second story balcony, eventually killing her.

Due to confidentiality rules, I can't tell you what Eddie told me about the incident when I went to see him, but the San Diego Union ran a series of articles on Eddie and the incident.

All I can say is that it is tough for me to picture my friend behind bars. I keep expecting the phone to ring with another quote from Eddie on eastern philosophy.

Here's a quote that he probably would have liked:

"Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn't anyone who doesn't appreciate kindness and compassion."