I found out last night that an old friend of mine died. The memorial service is tonight, but it’s up North and there’s no way I can get to it. Some of his other local friends who are in the same situation are going to be getting together for some reminiscing. I’ll be doing an iChat session so that the Man in Japan can sort of be there too.
What really kind of gets me about the situation is how sudden it was. Tom’s heart just plain gave out on him. Seems he had a congenital heart defect that was only discovered post-mortem. It helps in a way to think that he didn’t die young. Instead, he managed to survive for over thirty years with a condition that basically could have instantly killed him at any time. It’s kind of like he beat the odds in a game he didn’t realize he was playing.
Ok. As far as coping strategies go, this one still needs work.