A strange Story [View all]

I had a platonic relationship with a nice guy for decades. We both loved cricket. He was divorced. He used to take his young son from his second marriage to matches all over the island and sit with a group of us regulars. We had shared friends. The sad thing is that his two kids live overseas with their own families although both visited him last year. I met his daughter when she was here.
All of us regulars celebrated his birthday at a party he hosted last year.
Sometimes I didn’t see him or hear from him for ages. I knew he had some health issues but he was a former athlete. I last saw him in May a few weeks after his birthday. He stopped by and told me he was going to travel overseas in June for a while.
I hadn’t heard from him since, but in all these decades, he always calls me during the Christmas holidays so I started getting worried two weeks ago.
Yesterday I ran into a mutual friend in a supermarket line and told him I called and can’t find him. He changed color and asked me if I hadn’t heard that he had a massive heart attack days before his planned trip in June and died in July.
I am still in shock. His ashes were taken overseas. How did I not know this? I called another regular and she hadn’t heard either.
This is so unusual for an island this size. Freaking wow is all two of us are saying.