In memory of Melissa

This morning when I logged on to Facebook, an acquaintance had posted to a recently departed friend's wall. Apparently the friend had been battling cancer and passed away last night. I spent some time scrolling through his feed, learning a bit about him. The whole time, I was thinking, "Man, he sounds really great" and being a little sad I would never meet him, while also thinking that posting on someone's social media account after their passing is odd.

An hour later, after finding out my friend and former coworker, Melissa Morris, suddenly passed away, I was doing the same thing. I hadn't really considered, until her brother replied to my message, how messages of condolence on a deceased person's account could be comforting to a grieving family during a difficult time.

I don't have a lot of details about what happened. Suffice it to say, everyone who knew her is in shock. She and I weren't the closest of friends, but we had hung out several times and always had fun. My favorite hangout was over the summer when we found a quiet spot behind the Indianapolis Art Center where we could sit on some stone benches, chill, and eat some Taco Bell while enjoying the scenery.

The last time I saw her (which is SO WEIRD to say now that I know it was the last time), she had made me an apple pie just because she could. She texted me a few days ago to catch up and joked that she wanted to hang out because she wanted her pie pan back. I hadn't answered her yet because I assumed I had time. We had time. We would hang out again... sometime.

She will be sorely missed.