Classmate shares memories of Jeremy Bledsoe

Friday, January 15, 2010

The following was sent as an e-mail to the Banner Graphic from a former classmate of Jeremy Bledsoe. The writer requested to remain anonymous.

We were the same age. We were in the same class in grade school. I think he started at Reelsville when we were in third or fourth grade; I've been trying to remember exactly when. I'm 32, so there's just a few months difference in our ages.

When he first moved there we didn't like each other. We had some issues -- just kid stuff. He was making fun of my foster siblings, but after that we were OK.

He was the kind of kid who joked around all the time like the class clown. I'm sure he annoyed many of the teachers.

When we were outside of school, he told me a few stories of his mom leaving him with his grandma and her picking her boyfriends and drinking over him. So that was hard on him.

But from what he said and what I saw, his grandma was good to him. He dressed nice, and always had toys and was always clean.

The main memories I have of him in high school are similar. We didn't really run around together, but I'd see him in class and at lunch. We were friends and he was always goofing around (as an adult looking back, he was always getting attention by being silly), but never anything bad.

When I was in my early 20s I lived in Castlebury Apartments, and I saw him around there a few times with some mutual friends. At that time he was hanging out with people that were known for doing meth or speed. I never saw him do drugs, but the people he was with it was kind of obvious.

But that was over 10 years ago, so I have no idea if he straightened up or got worse.