Endings

The last day of the month. It was a decent day. A bright and cold sunny day. Postcards arrived in the mailbox from a friend and it made me happy. Happy that he thought enough to do the tedious task of sending a few simple words to the bambino from the far corners of the country because I asked him to. The Tarantula card arriving on Halloween was a lucky stroke of genius.

Progression into a powerfully cold night, my mother called to tell me that someone I knew died. He was only 23. I was shocked. My heart ached for his family and for the son that will never remember him. He will have all the stories, the few photographs.

What a bunch of bullshit.

I wish you could see him, the picture of him that they put in the paper. It must be his high school graduation photo. Vibrant, full of sweetness, and tinged with innocence.

I did not know him well, but I knew him. I remember him. I have pictures of him with his son wearing a little Santa Claus suit sitting on his lap at my Christmas party last December.

It reminds me of my own dead brother and all of the sweet lost souls who go away without ever looking back. The hurt they leave behind is immeasurable. Don't blame them. They have no idea other than maybe their own suffering will stop.

Be kind to people and have more patience. Tomorrow they bury their son, their brother and a baby's father. Tomorrow this could be happening to you.

Rest in peace sweet, sweet boy.