The death of a former friend

[Lucy!]

I just found out that one of my high school friends passed away in May from pancreatic cancer. She was the high school sweetheart of my former boyfriend's bestfriend, but they went their own way once college hit. We all lost touch with her and four years have passed...

She suffered a stomach ache that threw her into the hospital where they ran tests that led to the discovery of her cancer. Within a month, the cancer spread to other vital organs and she passed away May 9, right before her graduation. She had taken her LSATS and was on her way to law school. She was only22 years of age.

Our lives are fragile and we are mortal
The passing of this blossom will be imprinted in my mind forever

Lucy-

[Lightning Rod]

my sympathies for the family of your friend, Lucy.

By the time you get to be my age you will have a background chorus like I have.

I call them my Pips. They are all my friends and family and colleagues that have passed, many of them prematurely. I imagine them like the Pips that used to backup Gladys Knight. Snapping their finger and doing dance steps in unison and urging me on because I'm soloing for them. I'm still their representative in life. Every poem I write and every song I sing is for them.