Most newspaper articles leave the victims of coronavirus faceless and nameless, little more than abstract numbers in a growing tabulation. At least they do until you see the face and the name in the obituary and realize with horror that it was an old friend.
Jim and I reached that point today. A family phone call brought word of the death of an old friend in New Orleans on Wednesday. — Four days ago. Just a month after Mardi Gras. Only two weeks after the worldwide pandemic was declared.
We checked the brief online obituary, which mentioned nothing about a cause of death.
But on the man’s Facebook page, we saw condolences for a cherished friend taken by COVID-19 at age 73. People described him as a man who always had “a kind smile and a twinkle in his eye.” He was “one of God’s brightest stars” whose friends were forever blessed by his kindness, his love, and his mentorship.
Everything I know of him is exactly the same. He was gentle, caring, a loving husband and father, someone who pulled everyone together into a happy and cohesive whole in any situation.
Jim went to college with him in the 1960s and has known him ever since. I first met him more than 20 years ago on one of our many trips through New Orleans visiting Louisiana family. Over the years, Jim and I would stop and meet him for dinner and conversation at Mandina’s Restaurant or the Fair Grounds Race Course.
My love of several signature New Orleans food items began this way. — Shrimp with pink remoulade sauce at Mandina’s. NOLA gravy fries at the race track. Fresh Gulf fish served with meunière sauce at other Big Easy eateries.
Whenever I see any of these dishes today, my memories tug me back to those visits when our friend shared the marvelous nuanced food lore of New Orleans. He told great tales of legendary arguments among Louisiana chefs about exactly how to make certain recipes.
Cherished moments, all of them. I cannot believe he is gone. Gone now in a whirlwind that has broken history into the time before and the time after coronavirus.
Rest in peace eternal, Will Hornsby.
© Robert Craig Waters 2020. For this and other writings: http://www.robertcraigwaters.com
Robert Craig Waters 
Thank you Craig.
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