This has been a pretty weird week, frankly. I was off sick on Monday, and came back to the office on Tuesday to discover that one of the gentlemen in the office had died over the weekend.
His funeral was today.
So there's a general air of melancholy about the office today. I happen to sit right outside his office, and people have been stopping by all day to kinda just take it in. As was often his wont, someone started up his iTunes player and has had it on random play all day, and they lit the candle he always burned in there.
So I'm a little melancholy too, but somehow reassured. Because everyone who talks about this man talks about how much he loved living, and what a full life he'd had. And I can't help but think that though he may have died with stuff undone, he didn't stint on living the life he wanted.
Which is kinda how I feel about myself. And for the first time in a long time, I think that if indeed I were to die, I wouldn't have any regrets. Except for that "not being filthy rich" thing.
Don't get me wrong. I'm in no hurry to check out. But -- warts and all -- I'm living a life I chose.
His funeral was today.
So there's a general air of melancholy about the office today. I happen to sit right outside his office, and people have been stopping by all day to kinda just take it in. As was often his wont, someone started up his iTunes player and has had it on random play all day, and they lit the candle he always burned in there.
So I'm a little melancholy too, but somehow reassured. Because everyone who talks about this man talks about how much he loved living, and what a full life he'd had. And I can't help but think that though he may have died with stuff undone, he didn't stint on living the life he wanted.
Which is kinda how I feel about myself. And for the first time in a long time, I think that if indeed I were to die, I wouldn't have any regrets. Except for that "not being filthy rich" thing.
Don't get me wrong. I'm in no hurry to check out. But -- warts and all -- I'm living a life I chose.
So, those of you in the rest of the country (hell, the rest of the world) are often appalled at how crazily mean and violent life in the big city is - especially New York City. And we don't blame you, we are too. Recently, there have been a couple of Chinese food delivery men in the Bronx who were robbed and killed for their receipts so the alleged attackers could buy expensive sneakers. And everyone here is scratching their heads, wondering when it was that 16 & 17 year-old kids learned that a human life is worth less than cool sneakers. We've all been horrified and appalled.
Even more so last week when the news hit the TV that another Chinese food delivery guy had disappeared. He left his restaurant on Friday night to make a delivery in a Bronx housing project, and never returned. His friends, fearing the worst went after him and discovered his bike, but he was gone. He'd delivered the food and just disappeared.
Needless to say, the whole city -- myself included -- just assumed some stupid punks had done it again. Sometimes, though, these stories have a happy endings.
Check out what happened to him.
Even more so last week when the news hit the TV that another Chinese food delivery guy had disappeared. He left his restaurant on Friday night to make a delivery in a Bronx housing project, and never returned. His friends, fearing the worst went after him and discovered his bike, but he was gone. He'd delivered the food and just disappeared.
Needless to say, the whole city -- myself included -- just assumed some stupid punks had done it again. Sometimes, though, these stories have a happy endings.
Check out what happened to him.
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