For the past few years, my brother has done the books and took care of the management duties for the house we rent out. So I was glad when my brother texted me to let me know that the paperwork for 2022 taxes was ready, and that I could send it to my accountant. I was in a good mood until I checked back on my computer and found a message from a friend's son. His dad was killed in a hit-and-run incident, with a drunken driver leaving the scene of the accident. If I had not texted my friend today, I'd have never known this had happened.
My former boss was one of three people that I wanted to stay in contact with after leaving the bank. The first of these three passed away 365 days after we were both laid off in 2014. Hopefully, he was able to collect his full pension in a lump sum payment, as he would have gotten a small fraction of that if the bank paid him the value of his ESOP shares. The second person died about 4 years ago, and I was the only person from the bank who attended his wake. And now, the last person has died due to some drunk's stupidity.
Sometime this week, I expect to visit his family as they sit Shiva. Although I just had a mani-pedi, intending to spend the week as Marian, I will remove the polish and visit in Mario mode. Neither he, nor his family knew about Marian, and this would not be the time or place to let them know. Instead, it's the time to show respect for my friend and to try and comfort his family as best as possible.
