George F. Chapman Tribute

This is the umpteenth time I have started to write about my life with George. I hope this time I can get it all down without breaking down.

I first met George in 1996 at a local bar. He looked at me, I was looking at him, and he sat down at the end of the bar. He kept looking at me so I went over to him and introduced myself. We hit it off and for the next 6 months we had a great time. He was a bit wild and I couldn't keep up with his partying and we decided to just be friends. However, the attraction to each other never went away. Over the next 6 years, we would occasionaly see each other.

We reconnected in 2002. He had settled down (somewhat) and I wasn't working as many hours as I had before. This time he moved in with me and we started sharing a life that endured for 7 years. Not all of it was wonderful but all relationships have their problems.

George and I traveled quite a bit and he really enjoyed seeing parts of the world and how people lived. We had great times in Hawaii, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germanyj, Canada, Mexico, and trips within the U.S. were full of fun and adventure. We went deep sea fishing numerous times and he really enjoyed it.

George was never afraid of living life. He faced it head on and never looked back. He loved life. The only thing that he was afraid of was losing his mother, his sister, Barbie, and me.

Our love for each other grew over the years. George had never been "in love" with anyone until me. It scared him as the feelings were growing stronger and the dependence on each other was at times was overwhelming to him. He really put me through a battery of "tests" and finally accepted the fact that I loved him and would be with him, no matter what happened.

He would tell me " you have no idea how much I love you". I never doubted his love for me and I know he knew I loved him. Our relationship problems tested both of us, and even when we weren't living together, we talked daily, spent quality time together, and we were still trying to work on our issues.

It was horrible learning about his death. Never had I experience the emotions that I went through and that I am still am going through. Loving someone so much and not being able to be with him, not being able to say goodbye, and telling him how wonderful it was having him in my life. And that I loved him more than he will ever know.

I don't know if I will ever love anyone like I did George. It really doesn't matter because the love we shared was so special that I could go the rest of my life living off the memories and the special moments we shared.

If there is an after life, when its my turn to leave this world, I will be with George again.

He lived life and he lived it well.

Paul