As I sat in a professional development seminar today, I received a phone call from my mother. I clicked 'decline' and sent her a message to remind her I was in meetings all day. Her response was an abnormal "Please call me as soon as you can." My heart sank. What was going on? She even left a voicemail, but I couldn't listen to it. I assumed something was happening with our two sickly cats so I hopped onto Facebook for some answers. And then I saw it.
Memorials posts all over my newsfeed:
"RIP to my best friend."
"I can't believe you're gone."
"Love and miss you, bro."
I couldn't process it. I immediately texted my mother back and said "Oh my god. Andrew died..." My eyes filled with tears. Keep it together for ten more minutes, I told myself. I don't know how, but I did.
I ran out of the session and called my mother in the lobby of the conference center. "Please tell me this is a sick joke." "No, honey, Andrew passed away. He was hit by a car..." I almost dropped the phone. Andrew was the son of one of my mom's best friends. I grew up with him. He was a few years older, but he was always around for as long as I can remember.
It's so hard to process something like this when you just spoke with the person so recently. My brain doesn't want to believe this actually happened. I keep thinking back to all of the Christmas Eve parties where we spent time together and how great it was to do that. I really wish we had been closer in our adult lives, but it was always so nice when we were able to catch up and see how everything was going.
In life, you never know what is going to happen. Our lives could end in the matter of seconds from a careless driver. You could have ambitions, dreams, a whole life ahead of you, but death can still rear its ugly head. Unfortunately, that's what happened here.
It is with heavy heart that I say goodbye to someone who was practically family. My thoughts are with my Aunt and Uncle as they handle this tragedy.
RIP Andrew. Gone, but never forgotten. <3
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