I found out today that one of the boys I went to school with 4 years ago has died. A mountain biking accident somewhere in South America, at least he was living to the full. Theo was in my boarding house, and in my politics classes in Lower Sixth. He was so everything always brimming with energy, so full of confidence, good looking and intelligent. He had a good heart too, even though he always tried to hide it! He hurt my feelings only once in the time I knew him and apologised so freely later, I always remember that because in my experience not many males apologise well.
I remember cooking Pasta with pesto together in the girls kitchens (because they were so much cleaner than the boys!) He bought the pesto and I bought the pasta and the Port Salut cheese we topped it with! It seems like such a silly little thing but we had a laugh and those are the things about school that you remember, the things that made you laugh.
We had interviews in Oxford at the same time and he showed me round the college he was applying to, he got in of course he kind of had a Midas touch on life.
I never stayed in touch after we left Marlborough, I haven't stayed in touch with anyone really. So it kind of shocked me how hard it hit me when the news travelled down the grapevine to me that he was dead. I guess people have a lasting effect on your life even if you don't realise it. He always awed me a little bit, he seemed so certain of life. He knew he was going to Oxford, and he knew he wanted to be a diplomat, he knew he wanted to see the world. He basically knew who he was, in a way that eludes most people even if they live into their old age. I have no doubt if he had lived long enough he would have fulfilled every one of his dreams.
My thoughts are with his family, with his parents and of his two younger brothers who I know looked up to him and followed him in everything. My heart goes out to the people who will feel his loss in their everyday lives and to the people like me who find so many memories of how much they really liked him coming back even after years of absence. I also feel sorry for everyone who will never get to meet him.
May he rest in peace and long may he be remembered and live on through those who remember.
I remember Theo with great affection and with admiration. He had an agile mind and an effervescent personality and it was a great privilege to spend some of my life teaching him. When sorrowful thoughts enter my mind I will take myself back to those days, and be thankful that I knew him at all. In his short life he enriched the lives of many others who will never forget him.