Michael Cheslawski died yesterday. He was around 70 years old. I hadn't spoken with this guy in about a year, mostly because he was a lunatic and fought with everyone. He rarely bathed, his teeth were green and his hair was perpetually greasy.
I 1st met Michael in 2011 when I became his property manager at a place in MA. He came to my attention because as we were having a new fridge delivered to him the delivery company informed me he had 7 cats. I told them no he has 6 but they told me no he also has one in the freezer and they didn't want to be involved in this. I evicted him shortly thereafter. Somehow I felt really bad for this guy because I knew nobody else would (he really was not a likeable character) and so I answered his calls occasionally for many years and was his friend as much as anyone could be from a distance. He had one sister who had stopped talking to him years earlier and nobody else.
On Monday I received a call from Bay State Medical in Springfield to inform me he had had a massive heart attack and was being artificially kept alive. They called me because Michael had listed me as his health care proxy and they needed consent to let him pass. This man literally had nobody in his life such that he listed a person who could hardly stand him to make decisions about his death. I allowed the hospital to let him pass and they called me a short time later to tell me he had in fact passed.
A few years ago Michael and his then girlfriend called me around Christmas to wish me well. I told him I was spending it with my x wife and kids. When we said goodbye neither of us hung up right away and I heard him say to Patty "he's going home for Christmas!" and he sounded genuinely happy for me which I found sweet. This was a guy you used to have to practically hang up on to get off the phone with him so about 9-10 months ago I just lost patience and stopped taking his calls. He died all alone in the hospital. There is nobody to claim his body for funeral or even anyone to attend a funeral. So, this is it. A few words about my friend and his life. There is nobody else to say anything to about him which has made me feel sad for him all over again. May he rest in peace.