Mile Marker

Received some news a few days ago that caught me off guard. Our parents were right (that's not the news.) Ten years removed from High School, we don't know those friends that we passed in the halls and sat with through class. Generation Y has always been different, we do keep up through social media but we hardly "know" each other and the emphasis that we placed on each others' opinions is gone.

Prijesh Patel was not my best bud, but at one point in time I could easily describe him as a good friend. We shared more than a handful of laughs and conversations. I remember the first day that I met him. It was the first day of school in 1997. Prijesh was a Freshman and I a Sophomore. He had just moved to Ashland, understanding his role as the new kid from having been in his position exactly one year earlier, I made a point to say hey. He wasn't the new kid for long, his humor and personality were infectious.

My experience with death is limited. I have not dealt with mourning the way a lot of you have and I haven't had to cope with the crippling sadness that comes with losing someone close to you unexpectedly. I'm not saying that this was the case for me when I heard about my old friend but I was upset and bothered.

We all ponder our mortality at one point or another. When you provide for your loved ones and your life affects their well being it's only natural to think or plan in the event that you pass away. I suppose you could describe it as a mile marker on life's road traveled.

There are certainly other events that you focus on more than others. You swim through an ocean of anticipation in the months prior to getting your license or graduate and who could wait to turn 21? Those are markers that we invested more time than we care to admit thinking about. Throw in Marriage, buying your first home and Parenthood and now we're ten years and several markers removed from the night we tossed our caps.

The untimely passing of our classmates is inevitable. Others have passed too soon. While I've written in this space before about the importance of perspective, Prijesh's abrupt and unfortunate passing is a reminder to take heed of life's bigger picture. I don't care to speculate about the details or circumstances surrounding Prijesh's death, rather focus on the time that I knew him and cherish the memories that we made that first day in Biology and beyond.

Rest In Peace Prijesh.

My experiences are new to me, the lessons learned are probably not new to you. Most of the time, I'm just working out in my head, what the Silver and Black Lining is.