i found out something terribly distressing this week. a professor i used to work with had passed away the week before completely unexpectedly. he had beaten stomach cancer years earlier, but a blood clot brought him down in a matter of seconds. he was ... really indescribable. on the outside, he seemed like a cranky bastard. he'd snipe at me about something, then grab me and hug me. he was a curmudgeon. about twenty years too soon, but still a curmudgeon, and people still really loved him. he hated computers, and it was my job to help him reconcile to them. i worked my butt off selling him on the idea of a sleek and friendly iMac, with all the matching cutesy printers, scanners, cameras, etc. the artist in him opened up to it and i spent countless hours in his office teaching him how it all worked and getting to know him. at the end of all this instruction, he turns to me and says, "okay, now who's going to teach me to type?" a grown man, 50 years old, i got him Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. it's just such a strange feeling thinking about him now. i mean, he's actually gone, you know. i had missed the funeral. i can't go through that standard grieving ritual. i don't know what to do with my emotions. i guess i'm telling you all this bc i want to advocate what everyone feels when they lose someone really cool. make sure you take advantage of every moment you have with the people you value. and make sure they know how much you value them. end of life lesson.
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