Why I'm Up Late

I found out this weekend that one of the friends from the camp I worked at passed away.  His calling hours are tomorrow.  Mason and I are driving 6 total hours to attend the event and support his brother and family.  From what I've heard, he wasn't feeling well, so he went to rest.  Soon after, his mother came to wake him only to find he had passed.  The swiftness and unknowing nature of his death is troubling.  He was one of the most compassionate people I ever encountered.  At parties, he would always be the one maintaining a sense of calm and order among the other guests.  He was everyone's father and caretaker away from home.  I held the deepest respect for him and felt he was one of the truly "mature beyond his age" people I have had the opportunity to meet.  Seeing someone that I held in such high regard and was close to for a time leave this world is troubling and disheartening.  How does this happen?  I suppose this is something everyone comes to grips with during their lives.  It is hard.  Not only does it hurt to have someone torn from your lives, but it also demonstrates all too clearly how fragile life is.  Tomorrow will be difficult.  Soon I will have to talk myself into sleeping.  Perhaps I will work on another post, finish some laundry, and then head to bed.

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