Rainy evening

Too many gone of late. Two young suicides at MIT. Four teens on a stretch of road not meant for partying. A dear friend’s son in the final days thanks to a cancer that the doctors just could never get ahead of.

I have seen death before. In person, violently and not. And at a distance. Due to old age, disease, once a fire, a road accident, at their own hands. And these latest deaths follow the pattern of my experience.

It won’t surprise most of you that my offering this eve will be neither profound nor cheering. Not if you know me. And certainly not if you’ve known death among the young.

The only thing I can think to say, and to do, is to make good use of the time I have. Not the time remaining. The time I have. It’s not a continuum of which there is some percentage behind and some ahead.

There’s only what’s ahead. And I’ll be damned if I’ll waste any of it.