EPT
My best friend passed away a couple of years ago. It was extremely sudden. One moment I was on the phone with him, and hours later I could no longer hear his voice. He died in a motorcycle accident. He was by no means a reckless driver. In fact, he was a great driver, but no matter how good of a driver you are, there are still those unexpected accidents.
Prior to his death, I had lost a few relatives here and there. An aunt, both grandfathers, and a few others. However, losing a best friend is an entirely different feeling from losing a relative that you rarely see.
He was one of those rare types of people, and I say this not because I'm merely paying my respects to his memory. He was always smiling and worked very hard at everything he set his sights on, and had an aura that just brought people together. Soon after his death, I tried very hard to envision a bad memory of him. Anything, I thought, that could make me feel like I would not miss him so much.
I could not remember a single moment where I did not see him smiling, which I find ironic since humans tend to focus on the negative aspects of life (did I use irony correctly?). I could go on and on about all of his good qualities, but I won't. All I'll say is he was truly a rare breed.
I have long since gotten over his death. You can only be depressed for so long. However, ever since his passing, I've felt like a part of me had gone with him. It's an interesting feeling. If I had to describe it in terms the community would understand, it would be like playing SC:BW after having played SC2 for so long, then after the game loads you see you only start off with four workers and not six, and it's like, "Oh, that's right..." (but more of a spiritual feeling).
However, life goes on, and one must live their life.
The reason I'm writing this blog tonight is to describe what happened after the death of my friend. It had been about two years since we graduated from high school. A bunch of my high school friends and I had already split off due to college and were not keeping in touch anymore. During high school, we were a truly close group of guys, but some of us had not seen one another in a very long time, which added to the guilt. But, with the death of this one friend, it reunited a lot of us. The incident was a real eye opener, and we all believed, from that day on, we should stick together and not lose touch, or we may end up regretting it. Suddenly all the proverbs and sayings that I heard as I grew up made a lot more sense.
Though life may seem endless to you now, and death is nothing but a story many years to come, reality is only a stone's throw away. Through the death of my best friend, I realized that if I don't hold onto what is dear to me, suddenly I could find myself full of regret later on. If you let go of your friends, your family, or your dreams, it may be too late when you want to go back to them. Don't take anything for granted.
"What doesn't kill us can only make us stronger." - I guess in this case, what does kill us can make those around us stronger.
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On a completely unrelated note:
Today, my cute Japanese TA (Teacher's Assistant) told me that I was going straight to Hell. Just thought I'd share because I found it hilarious.
She asked the question, "If you were stranded on an island, what three things would you bring along?"
I responded with, "Well, being a guy... women, booze, and money."
I mean, it only makes sense, right? Have the chick pour the alcohol onto the money and make her light a fire. =_=
