Goodbye Justin

This weekend was a sad one.  I found out on Tuesday that my sweet friend from high school, Justin Dixon, had passed away.  Fucking Facebook, am I right?  I hardly ever get on FB and the one time I do, I see that.
It broke my heart.  Justin was such a good guy.  He always knew how to make me laugh.  Actually, he always knew how to make EVERYONE laugh and I hardly ever saw him feeling down so to hear that he had passed was CRAZY.  It also put a lot of things into perspective for me.  And after talking to John, I decided I wouldn't let the gap between my friends and me get even bigger than it is now.
After Justin's funeral, I went to lunch with John and Tim - two of Justin's closest friends.  It was great!  We had TONS of laughs and tried not to dwell on what we had just been through.  We kinda felt bad for having that much fun after a funeral but we knew that Justin would've been enjoying some laughs with us if he had been there.  He probably was hovering over us as we ate greasy burgers in our funeral garb and was laughing at some of the stupid shit we were saying.
And I realized something: my friends are HANDSOME.  I hate that it takes a funeral to see them in suits but, dammit, my friends are super handsome!  I felt the same way after Nate's funeral too.  It's a strange feeling because as I snuck glances over at Nate in his suit, it only amplified his handsomeness and it hit me that he had left this world too young.  The same with Justin.
Actually, my situation with Justin was a bit different because I was thrust into his mother's arms as we both cried over the loss and when opened my eyes, there he was - right under me in his formal Army uniform.  It was bizarre and almost traumatizing.  After I shared some words with his mom, I immediately went to the next room and cried.  I couldn't bring myself to be that close to Nate and yet, there I was hovering over Justin.  It was a strange feeling.
I still don't know the cause of death and what sucks is that I asked his mom what had happened after we hugged at his wake.  I couldn't help it - it just came out.  I guess we all say stupid shit when we're grief-stricken.
The lunch and conversation with John and Tim gave me lots of things to think about as far as where my life is headed and how I can make a change for the better.  I'm ready for a major change and I'm hoping that I'll be headed in the right direction because right now, I'm not happy with the way a lot of things are going for me...

And I hate that I had lost touch with Justin.  He was such a great, fun guy and I wish I had messaged him a little more on FB.  I plan on doing that with my friends now.  I want to check in every few months, or so, and see how everyone is doing because they've all had a major impact in my life and I can at least check in every once in a while.

We'll miss you, Justin.  I hope you and Nate are reconnecting and having fun together!

We'll miss you Hanun

Some sad news yesterday: my Mom had to put her little puppy down.  Well - Hanun wasn't technically a puppy.  She was 17 but she had the face of a little puppy.




















She was a good dog even though she had originally come to us from a bad situation a little over 9 years ago.  Originally she was supposed to live with Oni but she couldn't keep her.  I can't remember why but that's how Hanun got passed to my Mom.  At first, my Mom was hesitant about having another pet because the last dog we lost was a very hard loss and she couldn't bear going through that again...but just look at that face!



When my Mom told me she had to put Hanun down, I was sad but I knew it's what she would've wanted. She was getting older. Her eyes were glazed over with cataracts, she could barely hear and she had already fallen from my Mom's deck once before...As much as it hurts, I think it was the right thing to do.  She had lived a good life and we're lucky that she was a big part of our lives.

We'll miss you Hanun XOXO