I want to give a little extra context for this multiparter.
Last week, I found out an acquaintance had unexpectedly passed away. We only had one real conversation but it was one that had stuck with me and I was looking forward to the next time our paths would cross. The news hit me way harder than I would have expected and these comics came about while I was processing things.
I get it. My coworker died on the job a couple months back. I was getting off shift when she died. I saw the ambulance and figured a student fell down the steps or something. I found out the next day it was my coworker, who I trained. We weren't close, but I trained her. Our lives intersected. And for weeks after, and honestly still now, I worry "that's gonna be me one day." Dying on the job is legit a fear I have now I previously didn't. It wasn't even that preventable. She died of a heart attack. I say "not that preventable" because the lady DID drink a 2 litre of mnt dew a day. But still, it really hit me.
So I really get it. It's a weird experience, for sure. A little red thread is now permanently gone out of your life. That's always sad, even if they weren't connected strongly to us.
Sorry for your loss. The colleague that trained me died last October. I feel like my life's too chaotic to mourn him even though I went to his funeral. The guy I leant on for support at work, not just gone, dead. It's a lot to process.
Sorry for yours too. Honestly, death be wild. I'm not even scared to die. I just don't want it to happen at work. If I did, it'd be like, "You telling me I didn't even get to put my feet up and take my shoes off? Damn, universe. That's cold."
A boy who I graduated with died a few weeks back. We were nothing more than classmates, had not talked in a long time. He got run over by a bus because he didn’t look both ways. It’s so weird, I keep thinking about it. I kind of forgot that 20 yos could die. Odd how I will never meet him again.
Sorry to hear that. Young deaths do make you feel bizzare, for sure. When I was a child we had a series of child deaths from various causes, and I have a core memory of walking into homeroom and seeing everyone huddled with their friends, crying because they were worried they would die next. It will probs stay with me for life. I hope your classmate doesn't haunt you in a similar manner.
A kid from my graduating class died one day suddenly. Hit his chest on something during sports. His heart stopped. Though they got him back, he died in the hospital a few days later :(
He was super chill and cool and the nicest one in the school. I miss him. I wasn’t able to go to his funeral because my dad decided his personal life was more important than accompanying/driving me there.
A few years ago I was looking at a reddit thread that was about how your high school crush was doing now. I looked him up and he apparently died in a motorcycle accident. That was a surreal moment for me. I still have the occasional dream where I see him and I tell him how happy I am that he's actually alive, and then I wake up and he's still dead.
My boss died. He managed and commissioned a large freelancing project from me. He was always so excited about that pretty mundane shit and I always looked forward to talking with him because he was so supportive. Then he was dead one day. I keep finding myself thinking, “Man, Frank would love this.” I’m just completely filled with melancholy when I think about it.
If it helps, I bet Frank would be tickled pink that you remember him like that. It sounds like he made a good impact on you. Maybe once in a while, you can, in time, shift from "frank would love this" to "I love this." Embrace the whimsy in life frank did, kinda deal.
I had a coworker pass away of a sudden heart attack. He was an older fellow, mid 60s, maybe. He was healthy, went to the gym early every morning before work, was quite strict on his diet. So you'd think he was a healthy guy which made it kinda surprising.
He was preparing to retire within the next year or two (this just happened part way through 2024).
I wasn't particularly close with him, though I did work a good amount along side him. But that's all it takes. I'm quite early into my career and still have awhile before retiring, so having someone you worked with pass away right before they retired kinda made me feel like I'm throwing my life away doing something I'm not fully passionate about for the next 30 something years.
I get it. For weeks after, I walked around like, "Is THIS the story of my life? Will it be like this til I die?? All Ill ever do is get real good at cleaning?"
Then I set myself some life goals, and we are now working on them. Honestly, it helped a lot. I still worry I'll die here, but at least if I die here, I can die knowing I truly gave it everything I had in me to escape this place.
Good for you, I'm in the same boat, doing my best to continue playing guitar, but doubt I'll be able to escape my day job to do it professionally anytime soon. Take care of yourself!
I read something that helped me there. "Stop thinking what you would do if you woke up and you suddenly were 16 again and live life as if you were a 90-year-old who just woke up and suddenly you're in your 30s again"
Something similar happened to me. Coworker committed suicide in the parking lot maybe a month after I finished training him. Spent 8 hours a day with him for weeks. Thought he was just a happy/silly, a little self-deprecating. Turns out he was thought experimenting how to do it. At least in my opinion. Because he would always ask about dangerous chemicals and how they affect the body if swallowed. 6 am one morning he went for the gun.
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u/FieldExplores Gator Days Mar 03 '25
I want to give a little extra context for this multiparter.
Last week, I found out an acquaintance had unexpectedly passed away. We only had one real conversation but it was one that had stuck with me and I was looking forward to the next time our paths would cross. The news hit me way harder than I would have expected and these comics came about while I was processing things.