I met Jared as a very young child, but knew him much closer in High School. Our English teacher in Grade 10 had us sit alphabetically so I ended up sitting right behind him for the year. I don't remember if it happened right away but by second semester we were finding ways to make it fun for each other. I can remember when we started Shakespeare being excited to perform the "I bite my thumb at you" scene from the opening of Romeo and Juliet. And then I met the girl I ended up dating for the rest of school. At Jared encouragement and advice we got together just as school was ending for the summer. He was already a part of the group and kept me engaged with them. From the movie theatre, to parties I haddn't matured enough to handle yet, to a disastrous night that had us walking all over the county. He pushed me into situations I wasn't going to find myself in alone in an effort that firmly separated my inexperienced childhood from my tentative adolescence. I'm not sure is this is the proper venue but I'd be remiss if I didn't share. One Friday in Grade 11, he had this plan to have a party in the middle of nowhere. His friend had moved into some kind of abandoned church his parents owned, which was being renovated into apartments, so there was a place. He had a few of us take the bus to a place I couldn't tell you how to find again, only to find out it would be just us, and we couldn't stay the night. We spent hours calling everyone we could think of to get home and finally made it back into New Glasgow at sunset. It had completely exhausted the girls we were with and they were ready to leave. I had gotten in trouble by saying I would be gone all night so going home wasn't an option. He called a guy we knew in Trenton, Tyler, to see if we could hangout there. The long walk was the last straw for our companions so were on our own. We made it there hours later only to find out Tyler wasn't going to let us stay there, but he arranged for someone else to take us in. Another trip further out of town had us land at our final destination; a small cabin filled to the brim with cigarette smoke and dolphin statues. Our classmate Henry's house. The two of us took his bed and crashed immediately. In the morning, we dragged our exhausted, grime covered bodies to my house and passed out again, this time watching the musical Rent. I remember hearing him yell from upstairs that he thought there was a bear in my house when he first encountered my black lab, Lola. Thank you for the week I was able to spend in your home, away from mine, during a particularly hard patch. Jared may have been one of the first I was able to share my home-life with, and I received a warm reception. He is on an exclusive list of people I can call a true friend. I am deeply sorry for your loss. My regards, Taylor Bezanson
