How I found out…

This isn’t earth-shattering to me personally, but it’s an interesting story.
I’m still in California, and I was at a friend’s house hanging with him, his wife, and his oh so entertaining son.  My mother called twice, and both times I had to let the call pass.  So I sent a text asking if it was important, and she said to take my time.
Turns out she had an interesting story.  She asked me if I remembered a friend of her father’s.  I did not, and I asked why she asked.  Well, it turned out that his daughter died, a woman my mother had known her whole life.
You may have heard about it.
(Behave, Bol.)
What a horrible way to find out how small the world is–in the form of a reminder of how short our time can be.
‘Til the other side, Dr. West.
And yes, I know the circumstances surrounding her death, but it isn’t my place to report it right now.  I’d simply recommend taking this time to call your mom and tell her you love her.  Or anyone else, for that matter.
As many of you know, one of the things that drives me is the passing of my best friend in college.  Still hits me to this day.  That said, I’ve managed to cope pretty well.  The only reason that happened was because, for reasons that must have been divine, I told him how much I cared about him two days before he died.  No real provocation, no indicator of how short his time was.  Just felt like something to do at the time.
I’m lucky that feeling hit me when it did.
So call your folks.  Chances are, they don’t know what you’ve got to say.