Memorial Service

Today is the memorial service for my friend Nick. It has been 4 long days since we lost him. Each day gets a little easier and yet I am continually amazed at the impact he had on everyone. I loved Nick like a brother and nothing that was said or done could have changed that; what is amazing is the broad reach his smile had. Everyone knew Nick and everyone loved Nick. So today we will go pay our respects to his family and see some friends we haven't seen in a while, all to honor Nick and his amazing life.

I think what has made this such a hard tragedy to deal with is the pure senseless nature of his death. Violence is never okay; random violence is even harder to deal with. How can you accept that Nick was in the wrong place at the wrong time? How is it okay for someone so wonderful to loose their life over location and bad luck? There are no more chances that we will run into him; the chance of seeing that smile is gone and that is what is so hard to accept. We always knew Nick was still out there, even if he wasn't with us and now we have to deal with the reality of him not being out there.

I know everything happens for a reason. Maybe some relationships needed to be repaired and that was the reason. Maybe he saved the life of so many people and that is the reason. I don't know, but everyday I try to find the reason for this emptiness I am feeling and I hope that soon I can smile and say, "Remember when Nick used to....".