In A New York Minute

A friend of mine that I went to school with replied to an email I had sent her with news that can never be easy. She said she was sorry she couldn’t attend the Halloween party I had asked about because she was out of town. She told me she was in Florida because her Sister had died. Wow, tough note to receive, so much harder to write.

The thoughts that ran through my head were many. First of course was sorrow at what my friend and her family were going through, what a tragic event for anyone. I hadn’t even known she had a sister. I sent my condolences and let her know that I was here if she needed anything, the typical response to such news. What else does one say. I mentioned the incident to a few friends but didn’t want to spread the news very far simply because it’s not my place to decide how and when people hear such news.

Whenever anything like this happens, I think we all have the same type of reaction. The sorrow is obvious but at some point we internalize the news and, at least in my case, think of my own family. I sent my own Sister a note telling her about it and said that the news made me think of her and that I just wanted her to know that I was thinking of her and loved her. She responded by saying thanks and said that I had made her day. That was nice to hear.

At my age I think most folks live away from many members of their family. Friends have moved on with their lives and you just don’t get to see people as much as you’d sometimes like. My siblings are spread out, Karen’s in East Lansing, David is in Chicago and Steve’s in Orlando. Obviously we don’t see each other very often, as a matter of fact, the last time we were all together was when Karen got married around six years ago or so. The point I’m trying to make is the fact that, no matter how sad this sounds, I may never see any of them again. I know we can say that about anyone at any time. Hell, something could happen today and I may not see my next-door neighbor after I just saw him drive away this morning. Kind of freaks me out.

I’m not saying anything here that hasn’t been said before. I realize that life happens and we have no control over so many things, I just think about this stuff when something like this happens. I don’t know how close my friend was with her sister; I do know she couldn’t have seen her very often as she lived in Florida. It’s just that the idea that I may not see any of those important to me ever again kinda scares me. I guess it’s just a part of getting older that can’t be too pleasant.