a friend passed away last friday. 

i woke to the news on saturday morning; it was storming, as only the late summer can storm.  a lazy 9 am and so dark it felt like an evening nap with the sounds of rain and thunder.

anthony came in with the news and i woke fully, completely shocked.

we'd just spent time with him, his wife, and their ridiculously adorable 6 month old baby the tuesday before.  i remember thinking, that was great!  we should hang out more often!  because we don't travel much in the same circles, you see.

i remember having delicious italian dinners with him as our server, laughing a lot, drinking wine on the house.  he could speak chinese far better than me.  he enjoyed researching topics he found interesting; and i'd run into him every once in a while at the downtown library.  at one point in our lives, we even went on a few lunch dates, talked on the phone in the evenings.  we drifted apart, and saw each other at the occasional show.

when he met his wife and they got married after 5 months, the same year anthony and i tied the knot (2008), i thought - "that was fast!"  and seeing their lives together in pictures, on facebook, on her blog, in person - holy cow, they were perfect for one another.  so smitten with each other. 

i'm just struck (stricken?) - with the quickness with which life can be taken away, the unfairness of it all, the grief of his family, the incredulity and repeating strangeness of realizing someone is no longer around, someone who had been familiar on facebook, or instagram, or in general life peripheries. 

*sigh*

life can be so very short - be kind to one another. relax. enjoy yourselves.