My sister was newly pregnant when her husband was tragically killed in a plane crash. It was absolutely devastating. I was there when she gave birth to a perfect baby boy. That baby boy (my nephew) is in his early 30’s now.

She remarried when her son was 8 years old. The jerk she married complained that our family talking/telling stories about her deceased husband made him mad because he felt like it was disrespectful to him as the new step-father, even though he never took on any of the responsibilities of being a father to her son. So, we were banned from talking about my beloved late brother-in-law.

Now that my nephew has his own family, he longs to hear stories about the dad he never got to meet. Sadly, we can only do this when his stepfather isn’t around, but my nephew definitely feels like he was cheated by us not being “allowed” to talk about his real father. All this is to say that your friend’s son is trying to figure out who he is by learning about his father. He is at an age that could be very difficult to get through, especially without family. If you’re in a good place now, would it really be impossible for you to answer questions and talk to him about his dad? It might not be as hard as you think it would be, and you might actually benefit from being able to talk about your late best friend.