And another goodbye

All week I have been trying to write this post, and keep hitting the delete button about halfway through my thoughts. I can't get it right, and so now I will stop trying to get it right and just write.

I learned on Monday from my friend Penny that a friend we had in college was tragically killed last weekend in a boating accident on the Chesapeake Bay. Mike and some friends were out on a boat late Saturday night and hit a marker; three ended up in the water and Mike didn't make it out. I don't know more details than those.

Mike and I weren't extremely close in college, but we hung out in the same social circle. Because our social connection, my memories of Mike all take place at a party or bar, and thus are full of laughter. It has been years since we were in touch, but regardless the news has been weighing me down. Mike was engaged to be married, and my heart goes out to his fiancee.

I have to admit fearing what she, Mike's fiancee, is going through-- when Damir is late to meet me, or we are distanced for a period of time, my brain often defaults to the worst case scenario. Why do I do that to myself? Usually I am fearing a car accident, not that he is careless at the wheel, but having spent some time now driving the NY highways, I see those other crazy drivers careening down the road... not to mention the countless roadside memorials that now line the shoulders of every road I drive on. But he always comes bounding through the door full of kisses and hugs and each time I realize how silly I am to worry in such a senseless manner. What's the point?

I don't have a suitable closing for this post, how do you "wrap up" news such as this? I leave you with the link to Mike's obituary in the Baltimore Sun: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/obituaries/bal-md.ob.schott07aug07,0,4743019.story