This is a little weird, I’m writing this on May 25, but in a tough time, I am turning to the only thing that really makes sense to me. This is still going to be probably the hardest thing I’ll ever write.

Yesterday (May 24) started out as just another summer day for me. I stay in Wayne over the summer for work, and I woke up doing what I always do: Play video games and hang out with my roommates until I go to work. Somewhere around 2:30 in the afternoon I am in the basement grabbing some food from the fridge when I hear a knock on the door upstairs. This is really weird to me because no one ever knocks on our door, they just walk in. I hear another knock and this time I hear a voice say, “It’s officer Robert.”

At this point I’m confused, but I hear my roommate laugh and say, “It’s just Mark.” None of us had seen Mark for a little while, and he just decided to come over and hang out for a while. I am so happy he did.

Mark was telling us about this new motorcycle he had gotten a few weeks earlier. He took us outside to show it off. He was so proud to own a bike and was telling us his plans for it and how he was going to make it look cooler.

Finally, he said he had to head out, but wanted to know if we would be going to the Max later that night. We told him we would probably end up there, and he said he would meet us to hang out later that night.

Fast forward to later that night my roommate and I got to the bar around 10:40 p.m. and had just ordered a drink. Before we even had time to have more than a few sips of our drink people started to run to the door looking outside. Not knowing what was going on I peaked out of the window and saw a SUV and a motorcycle in the middle of the street engulfed in flames.

I will never forget the scene I saw that night, and I hope no one ever has to see it either. According to the press release handed out by the Wayne Police Department, Mark was traveling south on Main Street at approximately 10:46 p.m. when he collided with an SUV trying to enter Main Street from an alley. Both drivers were taken to Providence Medical Center, where Mark succumbed to his injuries shortly after arriving.

I had known Mark the whole time I have been in Wayne, and he was one of the most genuine people I have ever known. He always greeted everyone with a smile and treated everyone he met like family. He was the life of the party wherever he went. I was moved by the amount of tweets and Facebook posts in his honor. He meant so much to a lot of people here at Wayne State, and we lost one of the best Wayne State had to offer. My thoughts are with his family.

I don’t know why you decided to show up to my house that day out of nowhere, but I am so grateful you did. We will not forget you, Mark. Rest easy, brother.