Charlie Liu, from Hofstra, remembers Gretchen

Charlie found this page online a couple of weeks ago and wrote this peiece about his experience with Gretchen. Charlie, I'm sorry for the delay in posting - I was on a business trip. Thank you for writing and contributing to these memories. Best, Megan PS: You can find Charlie on Facebook if you want to reconnect with him. It’s funny what trigger memories in people’s mind. I found this page via google. At one time, I was Gretchen’s friend from Hofstra University (circa 1996, only for a short time as I will tell you more). I’m certain this is the Gretchen I knew because of the unfortunate scars on an otherwise picturesque individual. I know this is obvious, through your blog, I deduced that this beautiful person passed away and is with her mother in Alabama. It hurts to so much to hear that she committed suicide Here is my story of Gretchen… or at least of what I can remember (it has been 16 years). For me, it was sophomore year of college; I was getting acclimated to my surroundings and I saw this beautiful statuesque blonde girl with (from what I remember) a mesmerizing blue (or purple, can't seem to remember) lock of hair on the left side of her head. To me, she was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I know this sounds cheesy but, my heart skipped a beat when I saw her. I was a painfully shy person (when it came to girls) back then, but I was determined to meet this angel. So, I mustered up all of my courage to approach her. To my surprise, she was very warm and happy to meet me. We hit it off from day one and we spent a lot of time together (in all honesty, it was about 2 months, but as a 19 year old in love, it was forever). We talk and smoked cigarettes a lot together. I remember she told me she liked to ice skate, so I found the only ice rink open at the time (it was about 30 miles away, mind you it was early late September). She started to spend a lot of time with this older frat guy (I can’t remember his name) and I saw less and less of her. Remember, I was extremely shy back then, so I was unable to able to express my feelings towards her. It was killing me to see that the girl of my dreams was being swooped off her feet by this guy. I tried and tried to win her back, but as a young girl first time being away from home, she fell for the partying college life rather than the awkward guy (I went to an all boys catholic school in NYC). After a few weeks of not hearing from her, I called her out on it. To this day, I can remember the conversation… “I feel like I’m losing a friend. You don’t know how I crazy you make me feel. If there was a star bright enough in the sky that would merit your name, I would call it Gretch.” (Yeah I was super lame back then). She said if this was the way I felt then so be it, we can’t be friends. She was seeing this guy (I think his name was Dave… there are a million Dave or Davids on Long Island). I saw her on campus once or twice after that, but it was never the same. Looking back, I guess she did the right thing, because I would have lived my college life pinening for her and she would have just strung me along if she did not cut ties with me back then. It’s crazy how 16 years later, I can still picture this wonderful girl with her blue “my little pony” streak down her beautiful blonde hair. I feel like this is a “Wonder Years” flash back right now… Where is Fred Savage! HAHAHA! I know it’s hard, but through your blog, Gretchen lives on. Please continue with your endeavors.