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25 October 2009

Life is too short - really

I complain a lot. About school, about people, about bad food. The worse part about it is that it takes something all too dramatic to make it all clear.

Today, Eddie passed away after his car hit the side of a bridge. He didnt have on his seatbelt, so he flew out of the car, over the bridge and onto an interstate.

I knew Eddie in middle school and high school. He was such a promising kid - even though he was a year younger than me, he was in my math class, which was already an 'accelerated' class. It put him at 3 years ahead of the curve. Allison and I have a favorite memory of Eddie when he was in our math class in 7th grade. Mrs. Covington, our teacher, had left the room. We all kinda poked fun of Eddie, and that day it was decided that we'd put him in a box. Eddie was an awesome sport, he was all for it. We closed the box and when Mrs. C came in, she had a nice surprise waiting for her. It was hilarious, a moment that I will never forget.

As we got older, Eddie fell into some bad places. Life threw him some crappy circumstances...I maybe saw him once or twice a year when I got to college, always at a party. He liked to have fun, a little more than most. But lately he was putting his life back together, finishing school, getting his head on straight. I never knew him too closely, and maybe his best friends would agree or disagree with how I saw him. After all, they were by his side the last few years. What I do know for sure, though, is that Eddie was a good kid...he had a lot going for him, a lot to live for, and a lot of people that loved him. Twenty-one years is not enough time.

After breaking down in my "Medicine in Society" class a few weeks ago, I came to realize that my experiences with death straight suck. Rarely an old person, passing in their sleep; always a young person being taken away too soon. Something about it isn't right, isn't fair... First JR, then Erica, then Jynette, then Mike. Now Eddie. It's just not fair.

See you all on the other side...