Part of Life
Melissa was a kind, mature, and thoughtful person. She was in my classes both last semester and this current one. She disappeared about two weeks ago, and I foolishly assumed she joined the ten other people that had dropped out of this semester’s Physics class. Academics, however, were not the reason for her departure. Melissa’s mother recently died of cancer. I had no idea until I read the news in a campus-wide email. It brought me back to an issue I hadn’t encountered in a long time: death. At the college age, everyone feels indestructable. No one ever considers the possiblity that, next year, they might have much bigger problems to worry about than how to finance their education. This event reminded me of priorities. It should remind us all that people come before anything else in our life. It should remind us that our time here is fleeting. It should remind us to love while there is still time to love. I ask you, as did the email which was sent to us, to keep Melissa and her family in your thoughts and/or prayers.