A little over a year ago I lost a good friend. I knew it was coming.
I had just finished a restorative yoga class when the phone rang and it was another friend to tell me that they were discontinuing care and it was just a matter of days. My reaction was to sit in the middle of the Kits Yyoga stairwell and cry.
While I was sitting there most people walked around me but one guy in blue shorts and a gray hoodie (this is all I remember) sat next to me on the stairwell and said nothing. Absolutely nothing for a long while, he just sat there keeping me company. After a while he asked: "Is everything okay?" and I said: "My friend is dying." He responded by saying "I am so sorry. You want to tell me her story?"
I sat there and I did. I told him her story. For about 20 minutes I talked to him and cried.
Last week my cousin died unexpectedly in a helicopter crash. I found out first thing in the morning through facebook and shortly after that my Dad called to give us the news. His wife and kids, his family, his friends, they all shared stories about him.
Yesterday the local newspaper in Monterrey featured him and his friend, who also died in the crash, and there were numerous wonderful and funny stories about him. Everyone remembers him as a good friend who went out of his way to make people laugh and feel comfortable. Someone who enjoyed life and appreciated every moment life had offered him.
In the end, here is the lesson: leave a story behind and make it a good one.
