Mark.

we were strangers, but acquaintances.
i have some old footage from highschool of him in 6th grade
making some lame pick up about how he lost his number... so could he please have mine.
i was a senior then.
he, a kid. a boy. blue eyed and smiling.

today i found out that he died.
he was on break and was in a snowboarding accident..
they said two nights ago in the recovery room
his heart sped up rapidly and his breath quickened...
as if his brain were firing too rapidly all at once.
and then like that- his heart stopped.
and they couldn't start it again.

i sat and stared for a while,
thought about the last time i saw his sister,
pictured his family in the hospital room on tuesday night.
i thought about all the people who lost sons or brothers or family in haiti.
i thought about my heart.
about the massive amounts of healing that the living need to do to survive.
and then pictured his 6th grade cameo on my silly little camera.
and i cried.
maybe because we were acquaintances,
perhaps because we were strangers.