Recently I reconnected with a dear, old friend from our graduate school days. We had not spoken in several years. We simply lost touch since immediate life and family interfere and break the ties between distant friends.

My friend had much news to share about colleagues and friends and old professor whom we both knew. She told me that one of our friends had died tragically. She had been biking when her bike broke. She was pushing it back to town and a car hit her. She died on the spot.

My friend then asked if I knew about my old professor from University of Cincinnati. She thought she had seen some notice on the Celtic Department website that he had died this past summer. I was horrified. She back pedaled and said that maybe she was wrong. After we hung up (after an hour and half of talking), I jumped on the web. Sure enough, he had died at the beginning of the summer “after a long illness” and there had been a memorial service for him at the end of August. I was so sad. This man had inspired my love of Celtic languages and literatures. He it was who planted the seed that I might be good enough to study at his graduate school alma mater.

Death framed the conversation my friend and I had, since we had reconnected because another friend of ours from graduate school had recently lost his wife to cancer.

So right now, I just want to be grateful for having another day to teach my students, love my husband and children, and enjoy my friends.