Sad News
A long-time friend of mine, Brian Bastion, passed away after the small plane he was in crashed in Wheeling, West Virginia on July 19th in bad fog.
It’s been years since Brian and I have talked.. I think we lost track of each other when he moved to New Orleans and I moved a couple places in Peoria. I no longer knew how to get ahold of him and he didn’t know how to get ahold of me (I assume). I couldn’t remember enough specific details about his family to try and look them up. It turns out he’s been back in Bloomington for quite awhile and I never knew it.
I was able to visit with his family and fiancé very briefly on Sunday and attend his memorial service. I’m very glad I was able to go. It was really nice to see them all again, but I wish it would have been under different, better circumstances. What I’ve written here doesn’t do justice to what I’m thinking, or to one of his best friends and one of his uncles who spoke at the services. They both did an amazing job.
I’m in the process of gathering all my photos of Brian and scanning them in and getting copies printed. I’m going to make copies all of the videos and audio tapes I have with him. Lastly I’m trying to collect all the references to the accident and about him and include them in what I give to his family.
He was a good friend and a talented musician. He will be missed.