My friend of 6 years, Stoner Steve as I've referred to him over the years, is in a coma after overdosing on heroin. He's had brain hemorrhaging and things aren't looking good for him. Our friend Ian let me know in a post over Facebook.

I'm in total shock. Complete and totally. I had just talked to him on Facebook chat November 20th. According to Ian, Steve's dad found him on the floor on Saturday morning. They took him to the hospital, put him in a medically induced coma, and things were looking okay. But now they're not, which is why Ian decided to contact me.

I just can't wrap my head around it. Steve is the only person from college that I've kept any kind of regular contact with. The guy was about to finish his master's degree, and unlike most grads in this

economy, he had a job waiting for him. He's had his up's and down's, butfor the most part Steve didn't come off as nearly as crazy as he did in college.

This guy is fucking intelligent, man. Like, seriously, I was in awe of how incredibly smart he was....I consider myself bright, but Steve was on a whole 'nother level. I joke that Steve's the kind of guy that

could've cured cancer, had Steve actually liked school. We were just talking on the 20th, and I was telling him that he would make a great counselor to adolescents, given the bang-up pro-bono job Steve did with

me back in college. It's seriously going to be a massive waste if he dies, or he winds up a vegetable.

Steve taught me how to be a friend to people- how to listen and how to be yourself and relax and not focus so much on trying to impress people into being your friend. I really, really thought that someday

we'd be 50 years old, meeting up at some UD alumni reunion that I begged him to go to(because Steve was NOT big on that shit), and we'd have one of our typical chats where he calls me on all of my b.s. while I joked to him about how he was the most unethical R.A. that ever existed yet still got a commendation from the university president.

I can say that I have two true friends in this world. He's one of them. I don't know what I'll do without having Steve as my friend.