Gawd Rex, you make it sound like he's dead or something. (Very glad that K8 was able to let me know that he was indeed fine last she heard.)
All of us go through times where we meet someone that we love but they do not remain a part of our life for some reason or another - be it distance or broken hearts or loss of the thing that held you in common. For me the common grain has been LPSG and since my time here is now very limited I'm not "seeing" my old friends much anymore. I'll always have fond memories of them (some with photos)
and Ex is one of those people that although I never got a chance to know very well I've always really liked. I wish him the best.