After a long tiring week of preparation for an event on Saturday, and a day of long hour driving chauffeuring a good friend’s relatives visiting from HK to see the Niagara Falls on Sunday, I was exhausted and slept relatively early (around midnight) on Sunday.

Had a refreshing sleep and woke up naturally at around 8am this morning and was ready to start and enjoy a less hectic week. When I was still in bed and switched off the sleeping mode of my phone, I received the shocking and saddening news that my friend’s brother (also my friend) suddenly passed away at home yesterday. I didn’t know how to process the sudden news. I decided to just stay in bed and try to make sense of it all. It felt surreal because I just met up with him last week when the close group of friends went out to watch the Knicks championship game at a sports bar. In fact, I had joined them to watch the last four games of the NBA Finals together and kidded that we had all seen each other too much and had to take a break before we arrange the next meet up for my post-bday celebration. How can a life be taken away so suddenly without any preemptive signs whatsoever?! I still owe him money for the sports bar meetup and he still owes me a Blue Jays game that he was trying to arrange! As I continued to try making sense of the sudden news, I dosed off and slept for a few more hours before waking up past noon.

I didn’t step out of my condo the whole day. The mood was dark and somber and I didn’t feel like doing anything that required a lot of effort. I don’t know how long this feeling will linger and how I can recover from it. But I know that if I’m feeling this way as a friend, it must be many times worse for my friend who had lost his dear brother. He will also need to take care of all the legal, financial, and funeral matters as well as taking care of his elderly mother. I don’t know how I can be of help, so I told my friend’s wife (who brought me the sudden news) to forward my condolences to him and to let me know if there’s anything at all I can be of help. My prayer goes to the lost soul of a dear friend and may God comfort his family and friends. 🙏🏻