Life Celebration & Some More Sadness

Pic taken by one of his friends and posted on his public memorial page. 

The life celebration/memorial for Colin was done so well last Thursday. Hundreds of people came, brought food and made collages of him. His soccer coach had written a poem for him and his woodwork was on display. People hung sheets that they had previously been flying on their porches with his name and soccer number on. I got to speak briefly to Pablo but he and his wife pretty much hung back and let the ceremony be led by other people. My heart aches for them so much.
The principal of his school told a very moving story about losing his own brother at a young age to HIV-aids and feeling lost for a long time, but then realizing that time spent had been a gift and to stop asking why. He told the story a lot more eloquently than I am here. I was also shocked at how amazing, how eloquent Colin's friends were. These teenagers stood at the mic and told stories and shared memories. They were so mature and so loving. What a great group of kids. I wish I'd have known Colin as he sounded like a great kid too. He loved to travel and treated each day as a big adventure. It is comforting to know that his parents are surrounded by such a great community.

Today I woke to a message from a my dept. chair telling me that one of our work friends lost his battle with brain cancer this morning. We were all expecting it, but that doesn't make it any less sad. I was his teaching assistant in 2001 and he always chatted with me about my boys and his grandsons. He was such a nice man and too young to die.

So all in all it's been a sad week in my department. I've been very fortunate in life not to have experienced too much tragedy, so having so much sorrow in just a few short days has been hard.