April 19, 2012 got off to a dubious start. April 18, I learned of the passing of Dick Clark, American Bandstand legend, and America’s Oldest Teenager. He will be fondly remembered, and sadly missed. Then the following day, I lost a personal friend. Emilio died in a house fire, at approximately 4:30 am, at 39 years of age.
I’ll miss Dick Clark, yes. He was a legend. But Emilio? He was a friend, and there is a spot missing in me now. I remember when my grandmother was 87, she lost her last sibling, her sister Alice. And at the funeral, I remember her saying, “I’ll see you soon love”. It’s probably difficult for many of us to imagine wanting to die, but every time a friend or family member dies, it chips away at us, little by little. My grandmother outlived both parents, brothers and sisters, 2 husbands, and 1 child. As those pieces were slowly whittled away from her, she began to feel that there wasn’t enough left anymore, and welcomed her time. When her time came, it was thankfully peaceful. And she went without struggle. That’s one of my pieces.
Emilio is another piece, in what will likely be a long list of pieces. He was a heavy man, and when the official cause of death is released, I’m betting on congestive heart failure brought on by smoke inhalation. But I don’t care why. It doesn’t matter why. All that matters is that it is. It is true. He has died. He’s out of my life, out of the lives of all his friends and family. Where is a question for the theologians. He’s gone.
Farewell, Emilio Antonio Notte. You were a friend.
~Mahalo~
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