“[W]e never know how much time we have.  We need to live NOW.  Serve now. Love now.  Be the difference you want to see in the world NOW.” Christine Comaford-Lynch

How do you deal with the loss of someone you love who had their whole life ahead of them?

This is an incredibly painful post to write … a kind of bearing-my-soul message.  My heart is heavy!  If it can help just ONE person then it is worth it.

He was 26 years old, a graduate exchange student.  He was brilliant, intuitive, highly disciplined and he had a career path that was the envy of all.  His professors gave him stellar reviews.  He could have attended any school in the United States that he selected.

Our family embraced him, loved him and learned a new culture from him.  Sometimes after a discussion with him your brain would be on overload.  He was quiet, but what he had to say was deep and thought-provoking.   He was truly a gentle soul.

His English was captivating as French and German were his native languages.  Sometimes he would use a phrase in a very unusual way and then catch himself when he saw us smile.

But the one gift he did not have was length of years.  He ended his life six days ago.

For a man who wrote six or seven hours a day it was unusual that he left no message.  We will never know why … We will NEVER understand …

How easy it is to forget that life is a precious gift.

A wise man once told me that when you lose someone dear to you, take a single attribute of that person and incorporate it into your own life.  In some small way they then continue to live through you.  If there is any solace in this horrible scenario, that might be it.

So today I’m going to reach out to friends and family.  It is time to squeeze the juice out of every single moment of today.  Life is fragile — let us take advantage of every second!

Hopefully you have never experienced a tragedy like the loss of a young, beloved friend.  If you have, I’d take great comfort in hearing how you have coped with it.  It is hard not to revert to the “if only” phrase.  If only I would have reached out more.  If only I would have told him how special he was to our family …  But that is counterproductive now.

There are many questions that will never be answered.

Thoughtfully,

Dar