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Saying Goodbye

I’m breaking tradition today to say goodbye to a friend of mine who I learned yesterday died. I was not really close to him, but had known him for years and we lived in the same building. You may be wondering why I am writing about someone I was not really close to: Read on.

While I was waiting for the elevator, I met a woman. She knew me but I had never seen her before. It turned out she was my friend (let’s call him Sam)’s sister. She let me know that Sam had died. I was shocked, but what really shocked me was her reaction to her brother’s death. She really did not like him. In fact, she pretty much said that EVERYONE hated Sam. This shocked me even more. She went on to say that her other brother was there as well and he too disliked Sam but felt guilt over his death.

I left Sam’s sister and brother after letting them know that I liked Sam and accepted him as quirky as he was. After I got home and processed the whole event, I remembered that when another friend of mine was sick, Sam went to visit him almost every day. He would stop in and chat with Stanley for a while just to keep him company. I knew I had to tell Sam’s sister about this, so I found her phone number and left her a message.

Why did I do that? It’s simple. I felt SO badly that both of Sam’s siblings disliked him so much and had nothing good to say about him. I wanted them to know that while he was a difficult man, he also had a big heart. My hope was that maybe their opinion would soften just a bit and Sam could rest in peace.

I have no idea if my message had any impact at all, but if I were related to Sam, I would have wanted to hear something nice about him.

That being said, PLEASE be kind to each other and appreciate the people around you (even if you don’t know them).

RIP, “Sam”.

Shereen Rios BAS, CPT