In recent years I have written a few times about a collector I know. He was a colleague. He did not work in the same department, but he came to the office and we would be taught about cards.
Over the years he went from a collector who bought boxes and boxes with tickets at the local goal/Walmart (I once met him and his girlfriend with a shopping cart full of blasters) to someone I saw during the monthly show with a table sales cards – something he could not see before.
He died a week ago today. Heart attack. He was 53.
That is crazy young, younger than me. And everything I could think of was a whole series of people I see at card shows that are in bad condition – much worse than the man I worked with and often even younger. Since I heard about his death, it was in my mind. Last weekend I went to a flea market and my mind fixed on the alien people, thinking “Take care of yourself, guy!”
Corey was not obese, but you could see that he liked his beer over the years. He played softball at a Semipro level and when my newspaper had a softball team, he was the star player. He loved the Yankees, had a set of memorabilia together with the cards, would go to the spring training almost every year and had been to the National a few times. He had so many tickets that he even sold them from his house. I never got there.
He was a good guy, friendly, easy to talk to. We talked a lot at his table during the monthly show. I am not a talkative guy, but when you talk about cards, I can continue. And we did – about things, the state of the show and the hobby. He was extensive to a table on the big show in Syracuse the most recent time I was there.
The last time I saw him was at the monthly show in June. Our paths did not come across to work lately, he worked for days and I have been for nights. He said he would skip the next few summer shows, things were not great and returned to the fall.
But that’s it. I will no longer be able to grab chic cards cheaply from him. He put some cards aside for me. These are all things that I picked up from his table in the past year.
I had an eye on a Martina Hingis Relic/Auto card that he had shown for months and months. I did not want to pay the price (it was not the most attractive card), but I thought I would ever get it. Now I won’t do that.
As collectors and show visitors, we sometimes make jokes about the clientele. Sometimes, between the backpacks and the “suitcases” and the width of the collectors, it is difficult to get through a aisle. There are jokes about the unkempt state of people and “the scent”. But if you think about it, it can be worrying, I assume collectors want to play with their cards as many years as possible.
I have tackled health problems with regard to weight and nutrition. Thirteen years ago I was diagnosed with diabetes. I have things under control, but it is a fight every day, sometimes it goes great, other times it is not. I train or do a form of exercise every day. When I found out why I felt so terrible, I was crazy. I thought I would be dead by the time I hit 50. But I’m still there.
Anyway, that is at least the third time I have had to deal with the death of a collector at a too young age that I knew. The first two were virtual friends, formed through the blog, but this one was from real life.
I don’t know what is happening with all those cards now. It’s difficult.
#good #care #guys