n3rd.org

Today’s entry was supposed to be about my new computer but in the light of recent events I decided to postpone that for a few days.

During my first year in the States back in 1997 I stayed at two host families, in the first one I had a host sister named Lisa. We got along okay (though I wouldn’t say we were friends) and I haven’t talked to her since I left. Nonetheless was I shocked when a few days ago my friend Iris told me that Lisa Morgan got shot. She survived, but her fiancee died.
Horrible tragedies like this happen almost every day but it usually isn’t until somebody you know is involved that it really gets to you. Two years ago Sandy Edmiston, a friend of mine from Westminster, died in a rock climbing accident. It was the first time in my life that somebody I knew passed away unexpectedly. We were not particularly close but she was an incredibly smart, beautiful and witty girl full of life and one of the most committed and open minded person I had the privilege of meeting. If there is such a thing as fate it certainly wasn’t fair to her.

I consider myself very lucky for never having lost a close family member or a longtime friend and I barely even remember the last time I went to a funeral. Put crudely, dealing with death is a skill one has to acquire, a skill that I probably still lack. So when the time comes I don’t know how I will cope. That’s a question that only life can answer and I hope it will take its time doing so.