a somber moment

Tonight, a girl from my high school passed away. She had stage IV cancer (I forget where it originated; I've been trying to find her family's website they'd been keeping of her progress again, as I'd looked at it a while back, but no such luck). She graduated when I was a sophomore from IB, and I was in the flute section with her freshman year; sophomore year she was one of the drum majors. Though I didn't know her well at all, she was nice to me and I had no qualms with her.

As my life has been radically altered by cancer as it took over someone who shared one-half of my cells nine months ago, I suppose Alandra's death hits closer to home than it should for somebody I hardly knew. It doesn't take someone losing a family member to cancer to sympathize with her family and friends, but it is a lot easier to empathize. However, I can't imagine how they feel losing such a bright, young person - while Dad was 'young' to die, Alandra was even more so.

So, rest in peace, Alandra, and my thoughts go out to her family and friends. I hope time will be kind to them, as it has helped me immensely, though I'm not sure I'll ever be over losing him.

"Death ends a life, not a friendship."
-Robert Benchley