I've been a lucky guy. I'm now 32, and up until this point in life, I really haven't had anyone extremely close to me that has died. Unfortunately, I do not expect that trend to continue for much longer. 

Death has been quite a prominent subject over the last few weeks. In November, an acquaitance of mine from college named Sheetal was killed in a car accident. She was 30 years old. I felt horribly for my friend Amanda "Freedom Fighter", because she was very good friends with Sheetal.

A few days ago, my aunt Betty passed away. She was my mom's older sister. Aunt Betty lived near my grandma in West Virginia. As a kid, we would spend atleast a week each summer visiting the family in West Virginia. I spent a good amount of that time visiting Aunt Betty. She was a sad and lonely widow that developed personality disorders, and in her later years, she isolated herself from everyone. I probably hadn't talked with her in 15 years. I can't really say that I'm devastated by her death, I really find hapiness knowing that she's in a peaceful place because I feel like she led a troubled life. Nevertheless, it's sad to have her gone from this world. It does make you ponder your own legacy, and what you will leave behind.

On Saturday, my oldest friend Margaret also suffered a loss. Her brother-in-law (who recently returned from Iraq) killed himself. I guess that the pressures of what he saw over there was more than he could take. He was in his early-thirties.

My dad was 48 when I was born, and in October he turned 80. Since that time, he's been sick with a pneumonia-like illness. He hasn't been able to get past it. He's been in and out of the hospital and doctor's office quite a bit over the last few weeks. Both my dad and the doctors are confident that this will pass, and he will be fine. However, the whole incident has made me realize his own mortality, even more so than I previously had. 

The thing that has me most nervous at the moment is Lenore (my 10-year old cat). She's been with me through a lot, and I really feel that she and I have grown up together. She has developed diabetes, and at first I felt like it was managable. Over the last couple of days, she has lost her appetite. I worry that this is a sign that something is severely wrong. I'll have to wait it out, and see what happens, but I understand that death is a part of life, and is unfortunately inevitable.

Tomorrow's a new day. Hopefully for all of us.