Kevin R. Washburn
Franklin
In the back of his mind, Kevin Washburn, 30, always wondered if time was running out on him.
A few years earlier, a psychic told him he would never make it past the age of 30. Washburn took the news seriously -- too seriously, his family felt -- often disregarding long-term plans. A few months ago, his older sister, Sharon, said he refused to open a letter about Social Security, half-jokingly telling his mother that he wouldn't be around to cash any reimbursement check.
He died three weeks before his 31st birthday.
Great White was the first rock band the music lover saw perform, when he was 14. Sharon took him to that concert, to see Night Ranger and the Outfield in Boston, but Great White was a last-minute replacement for the Outfield. Washburn loved heavy-metal music, always dreaming he would one day be a member of Metallica, Guns N' Roses, or Kiss.
"In high school, he wanted to be a rock 'n' roll star," said Sharon Washburn yesterday. "He still has the long hair.
"At Halloween, he jumped at the chance to dress up as Alice Cooper," she said.
Washburn taught himself to play the guitar and performed casually with a number of garage bands made up of friends. He worked in shipping for SourceOne, a marketing firm in Hopkinton, but was considering returning to school to study graphic arts. He liked to draw comic superheroes. He played softball with Sharon and loved to watch professional wrestling, the Boston Bruins, and NASCAR.
He recently began teaching his 11-year-old nephew, Kamaron, to play the electric guitar.
FRANCO ORDONEZ
