David Middleton Died
Saturday, December 16th, 1995We learned that long-time acquaintance David Middleton died by his own hand today. Though I’d only talked with him once as an adult, his untimely and self-inflicted demise shocked and saddened me. Afflicted with epilepsy since birth, Dave probably had social concerns surrounding that, which depressed him enough to take his own life.
Dave and I used to climb the cherry tree in his back yard and play together back in the summers of 1970 and 1971. I liked him. But I must confess now that the main reason I spent so much time at his house was to catch glimpses of his sisters, Ellen and Martha. Ellen unfortunately, also died way too young sometime around then.
He used to give me chews of snuff later on, in the mid 1970s, and we spent many evenings just hanging out together at the playground across North Third Street from my family’s home.
Once he got so mad at me that he chased me around that asphalt-covered school yard, and I ran so hard to escape that I injured my right leg, which required a cast to heal and caused me to miss the first month of 9th grade in the fall of 1975. Our friendship ended then, and I never spoke with him again until this past summer at sister Christine’s, when he and his wife Barb were visiting.
We shook hands and it was great seeing him again after so long, although he did seem much more quiet and reserved than I remembered him to be twenty years ago. I suspected that he might be dealing with deep depression just from talking to him, and I’m sorry that he never found respite from the worries of being different socially.
Take care, Dave. Though you did not deserve to die like this, I sincerely hope you’re at peace now. It was nice knowing you.