Last Friday morning, during an incredibly busy clinic, I got a text from one of my closest friends from college. I thought it was strange as we, unfortunately, don’t communicate that often.
His text said, “I don’t know if you’ve heard,” and there was the link below:
This is the daughter of one of our fraternity brothers.
I sat there staring at my phone, feeling nauseous. For a moment, I was totally paralyzed and did not know what to do.
After somewhat getting my senses together, I stumbled into a treatment room and could barely hear what my patient had to say. There were so many thoughts going through my brain.
The young woman’s father is the older brother of my college roommate for two of my four years at Vanderbilt University. He slept on our couch for six months while he was working on his first novel. I have not seen him since we were together in London, in October 1996, both visiting his brother.
Nonetheless, it hit me like we had just been together last weekend.
No person should die like this, especially someone who is just starting their adult life, with so much ahead of them. No one should lose a child during the early prime of their life. For that to me is the worst thing I can imagine and I’m not sure I could survive it.
Later that day, I reached out to other friends from college to grieve together.
I reflected on all I have and the health and happiness of my wife, my children, my family, and myself. I felt a little guilty that, all the while, my friend and his family had to go through this unimaginable tragedy.
Well, the holidays are here and it’s the most celebrated time of the year for much of the world.
So I will ask you to do this during the Holidays…
Please spend good, quality, and engaged time with your family and friends. Be appreciative of all that you have and…
Think of Tessa Majors and her family.
Lowell