I don’t have any major words of wisdom today… in fact, this blog post will almost certainly be short, rambly, and aimless.  Emotionally, the past two weeks have been a complete roller-coaster, with peaks and valleys, sometimes one right after the other (the emotional free-fall is quite trippy).

I received a phone call from one of my closest friends last week… he’s like the big brother I never had.  Ask either of our respective families, and they will say something like, “She’s his sister” or “He’s her brother.”  We call each other “Sis” and “Bro”, and finish every conversation with a “Love ya, sis”/”love ya, bro”, and have done for over fifteen years.  In the 17 years we’ve known each other, I have seen him cry once… now twice.  His best guy friend died very suddenly, tragically, unexpectedly, last weekend, and the empty space left behind can never be filled completely by anyone else.  I knew this man – though admittedly not well – who died at the age of 44 – but I know several of his friends left behind.  As I type this, he is being memorialized and his life celebrated.  By nature of distance, I am unable to personally comfort those who are hurting, and be comforted by them in return.

Tragedies like this remind me of the complexity and the fragility of life.  No one knew last Friday that within 24 hours, many lives would change.  But change they have.  While family, friends, and loved ones are picking up the pieces and learning to live with a gaping hole in their lives, my hope is that they will live as their loved one did – fully, completely, embracing all that life has to offer.