Condolences

I never know if R.I.P. is one of those really trite, dumb things to say, or whether death is the only time we are truly at rest. I'm not one of those people who've seen lots of friends die. The closest people to me who've passed were family and the family members I'm closest to are still here, thankfully. I went to my friend Courtney's blog because her name came up last night and I'm gonna go see her (and see her perform) in Minneapolis soon. I didn't expect to find the news there that I did.

I didn't know James well, didn't know him at all, really. To be honest, if you had told me to name Jenny's boyfriend, my manesia would've kicked in. I certainly had no idea he was a great chef. But what I do know is that every time I saw the at parties, they being one of the many people I met via that fateful wedding dinner where I didn't know anyone but everyone welcomed me into the fold, James was so sweet. Kind. As Rob notes, not necessarily what you'd expect on first glance. I'm so sorry and extend my condolences to everyone who misses him. The news certainly stopped me from whatever I was in the middle of doing. Made me re-realize that for all of us, life is indeed short and that just slogging your way through it miserably is not of service. I hope I can learn from that lesson because it's so true and important.

I will also say that I think the photos posted by Rob and Courtney tell a wonderful story all their own (not the whole story, but they do capture beautiful images of who James was).