I had this friend. No, the better phrase would be "I had this classmate." I don't know if he was my friend or not, I'd only known him for that one year, when we landed next to each other in English and History. I hardly knew anything about this guy, just that we'd rib each other about passing papers up and ask what we'd gotten for number three.

Anyway, he died. Not recently - over two years ago now. And it was sad and it was tragic in the way that it is always sad and tragic when a young person dies. And even though I hardly knew him, the way everyone spoke about him afterwards made it clear that we'd lost someone really special. But I think I was just taking their word for it, because I hardly knew him.

This doesn't belittle the tragedy any - we lost a classmate that day, someone that some of us had lost someone really close to us, someone they'd known since elementary school and genuinely loved.

But it wasn't my tragedy to be sad over. I could be sad because it happened, but you could have substituted any number of people into the role of victim and I would have probably felt the same. And I regret this. I regret going through the motions and not really understanding them, and for not getting to know this quasi-friend better when I had the chance.

Live every day like you may never see your friends again. :)

Leez.