a reflection

There are certain times in my life where thoughts and ideas come together from different directions and crystallize to bring me to a sort of heightened awareness of their contents. It's just another one of those syzygys that happen every once in a while.

Today, three things happened. The sister of one of my mom's teaching associates committed suicide, so we are watching her kids while she goes to help her family. The son of my boss's visiting teachee died suddenly in his sleep from congestive heart failure, and I am typing up his funeral program. And I got an email from an old friend.

It's always sad when someone dies unexpectedly, and I can't help but feel a little down even though I don't even even know these people, but the email from my friend made me value life even more, because it included this poem:

Around the corner I have a friend,
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone.
And I never see my old friend's face.
For life is a swift and terrible race.
He knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell.
And he rang mine, but we were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.
"Tomorrow," I say, "I will call on Jim,"
"Just to show that I'm thinking of him."
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.
Around the corner, yet miles away,
Here's a telegram sir, "Jim died today."
And that's what we get and deserve in the end.
Around the corner, a vanished friend.

So I just wanted you all to know that I am thinking of you, and thanks for being my friends.