Life comes without a guarantee

This  has not been like other days.

A call came through. My  brother's son died last night in his sleep  in a hotel in Vancouver.

He was there to accept an award on behalf of  his  company.

He was in his mid-forties. A strong, healthy man

I was trying to remember the last time I saw him.  At his Dad's life memorial.

My mind was a blank.

Then it cleared.

I got the word  on Remembrance Day  2003, at the Cenotaph ,to say he was in hospital  and had  almost died.

He was still with me at the time of the election. ..very  aware.... enough  to  share.

He lived a short time longer.

On the day, I  remember sitting  in a restaurant , placing an order with my own, my sister and my niece Susan.

Thinking once more.... incredibly ....this is what it's like.

Family gather and  talk ...normally ....like a loved one  hadn't just  drawn his last breath.

Like there wasn't a great weight of sadness sharing the space.

My brother was  younger than I was  but ill and in his seventies.

None of us would have wished what his life had become, to continue a day longer.

But Craig was half his father's age.

His life was still waiting .