Thomas Whitehead

I met Thomas in S2 Art class at the high school. It was that year that sparked my interest in art and so that class became a bright spot in my week, even more so because of Thomas being in it. I can clearly remember the day that I found out he liked Star Trek, and more specifically the show Star Trek discovery. I was completely obsessed at the time and was so happy to find someone else who liked it. We would talk about the latest episode as they came out weekly. Those conversations are a highlight of my year even three years on. Thomas always managed to make me laugh, and was such an attentive listener- remembering details of things you had only mentioned in passing. Although I then lost touch with him for a while, I was very happy when he became friends with my group of friends this year at school. He fitted in incredibly well. Thomas was always very good at forming connections with people and making them feel cared about.
I didn’t get to be Thomas’s friend for very long but I’m grateful that I did at all. I’ll remember him for the rest of my life.
To Thomas,
your friends love you always.

I met Thomas in S2 Art class at the high school. It was that year that sparked my interest in art and so that class became a bright spot in my week,made even more so because of Thomas being in it. I can clearly remember the day that I found out he liked Star Trek, and more specifically the show Star Trek discovery. I was completely obsessed at the time and was so happy to find someone else who liked it as much as me. We would talk about the latest episode as they came out weekly. Those conversations are a highlight of my year even three years on. Thomas always managed to make me laugh, and was such an attentive listener- remembering details of things you had only mentioned in passing. Although I then lost touch with him for a while, I was very happy when he became friends with my group of friends this year at school. He fitted in incredibly well with everyone. He was always very good at forming connections with people and making them feel cared about and appreciated. I didn’t get to be Thomas’s friend for very long but I’m grateful that I did at all. I’ll remember him for the rest of my life.
To Thomas,
your friends love you always.

I only knew Thomas for a year, but when I look back on that period of my life, it was his friendship which defined it. We both shared a burgeoning curiosity in the world around us, which many of our peers did not posses. At that age your interests and desires are first surfacing, morphing into the brimming passions which will chart the course of your character. It is an overwhelming process for a young mind, suddenly grappling with emotions and ideas which you cannot yet name, only feel. Thomas helped carry me through what could have been an intellectually lonely year. His irrepressible interest in the nature and meaning of all things served to bolster my own, and our mutual appetites for knowledge fed off one another's. He would teach me what he knew about space and the universe, and I would tell him what I knew about history. Together we would discuss the philosophical questions we were encountering for the first time, alongside our mutual friend Eamon. The three of us formed a tight-knit group, which first developed in a mythology class taught by Justin, who we all adored. Thomas was well liked by all, his quiet demeanor belying the warmth of his friendship. He had a wry sense of humor, which I recall as being remarkably sophisticated for a sixth-grader, and always sure to draw a laugh. He was a steady presence in the classroom, someone you could go to for conversation or companionship. At the start of recess we would all race to the swings, of which there were a limited number, and Thomas would always somehow manage to get there first. Everyone would gather around the swing set and gossip, but sometimes Thomas and I would go on long walks, and discuss deeper questions. Sixth-grade feels long ago, and my memories from it are somewhat blurry, but certain moments from the walks I went on with Thomas stand out as crystal-clear. It is the little moments that form my memory of that year: sitting and discussing some philosophical topic I don't remember with Thomas on the hill across from the PE field on a bright spring day, playing Star Wars Battlefront with him and Eamon in the loft at his house, finding a deer skull in the fall leaves behind his backyard. We exchanged a few letters after he left Asheville, until eventually we stopped. I think it was I who forgot to write back. I hoped that the transition had been an easy one, and he had settled into his new life in Scotland without much difficulty. When I heard that he had passed away I was shocked, as were all of his former classmates. If it is any small consolation, know that he is mourned by dozens of people an ocean away, and our thoughts are with his family. I will always remember Thomas as a dear friend, and someone I am blessed to have known.