I just found out tonight that David Santos, one of my roommates in grad school, passed away. This didn't happen today or yesterday. Or last week or last year. It happened in 2011, so you can figure out that we haven't stayed close through the years. But David was one of the people that I've been figuring I'll catch up with eventually. Eventually... I guess not.
I first met David when I started grad school in the fall of 1987. We were both entering the PhD program* at the University of Michigan, and were going to be living in the same dorm -- Baits Stanley on the North Campus. He had gone to the University of Chicago as an undergrad, and had a much stronger background than I did. He and I were in the same real analysis class that first semester, and his help and encouragement kept me afloat.
In our second year, David and I were renting bedrooms in a private house near the Central Campus. I don't think we ever had any more classes together (after that first semester real analysis), but he still always made time to offer me helpful hints on my homeworks.
David had a very quick wit, and always saw connections between seemingly unconnected things. And I always enjoyed his company.
After I left grad school, I only saw David a few times. He occasionally visited New York with his then-girlfriend, Margie, and I was always eager to catch up with them. The last time I saw David was at the wedding of two other friends in Chicago. After that, we fell out of touch. I think we had a conversation in the late 1990s, but I don't recall much in the way of details.
It's been a long time since David was a part of my life in any real way, but I still feel a sense of loss. The world was a better place with David than it is without him.
Here is a memorial website.
Rest in peace, friend.
*Just to make sure no one thinks I am misrepresenting myself, I never did finish the PhD.
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