Live in Peace, Rest in Peace

Somebody who worked at my office died two days ago. He was 38, and died instantly of a heart attack while hiking in Rwanda. He was there on a humanitarian mission for the IRC. He was with the head of the company I work for, who fruitlessly tried to revive him for a half an hour, though he had no pulse from the second he dropped. The head of our office took the trip with the body to Thailand, to deliver him back to his family. It is so sad. And I didn't even know him that well. What I do know is that in his life he worked to help the world. Doing things that you only hear about people doing. Jumping right in after the tsunami to form an organization and get people involved. Humanitarian missions to places I'll never be. Inciting people to action. Leading by example. If I died tomorrow, what would people say of me? She had an attitude problem. She liked to gossip. She yelled at her husband over silly things. She didn't call her grandmother enough.

These are the things that remind us that we had better try and live in the moment. This moment is the only one that matters, for the next may never come. I've been given this reminder plenty throughout my life. Will this time I truly make the effort to remember, or will I forget as quickly as before?

Anyway, this post is for Mach Arom. Who died young, doing what he loved. I hope to learn a lesson from the way he lived his life, and the impact he had on those who knew him.