The other day, I glanced through the online version of my old high school newspaper it publishes bi-annually when I came upon an article entitled "A memorial to a former student". My eyes caught the unique sounding first name listed, an individual by the name of Colman. The article was a continuation from the frontpage so I quickly skimmed back to the frontpage to see if I could locate a last name as well.

To my shock, the last name matched the one I had in my mind.

I was extremely disheartened to discover that he had lost control of the minivan he had been driving, swerved into concrete barriers and rolled several times until his vehicle fell into the harbourfront waterway one night. He and his passenger both drowned. It's so sad, he was only twenty two years old.

I went to high school with him. We sat next to each other in the same business class during our last year before graduating several years ago. We worked together in the same group assignments and did class presentations together. We were always joking around about chasing girls. The thing I will always remember about him was his ready laugh and goofy smile. He was a nice guy.

I didn't know him very well outside of school but I had him on my msn contact list. When he stopped coming online some time ago, I never really thought much about it until now. He passed away this time last year but I never knew until I read the newspaper now, a year later. I wish I could have gone to pay my last respects to him one last time.

I once read the Hagakure, an obscurely worded warrior literature of the samurai code called Bushido that stated it was everyone's duty to always reserve some kind words for someone who has just passed on. For all wrongs are forgiven in death and we are all equal once we return to the earth. The most I could do was search for the facebook memorial the newspaper had mentioned and post a short obituary of memories on the page his friends had setup for his family. He touched all of us who ever knew him in his own little way. I don't regret ever having met him. He will not grow old as we shall grow old but his memory will always live on.

Life is so short.

It really affected my thoughts on life. It bothers me most that this could have been anyone. It was just so random. I feel that our time on this earth really is a precious gift that continually fades away but how long we each have left, no one knows. I once heard that when priests administer last rites, the single most common request was not to be surrounded by one's family in their last moments but the hope for more time; a wish never in the power of the priest to grant. In happiness or regret at the end, how we choose to live through this will always be our choice. Life is the single greatest gift of all.