For those who know the name, but didn’t know the news, Kristine’s dad died last week after complications during heart surgery. Combined with Virve’s dad a couple years ago, I will no doubt look back on this as the point in my life when my friends’ parents started dying. Followed none too distantly by the point in life where my own friends start dying, no doubt. I will avoid reflecting on the experience too much here since there is not likely to be anything new for me to contribute to the human corpus on the subject of dying, but suffice it to say that a) it sucks, and b) it was really quite nice to see some of the people there again, some for the first time in a decade. For those not in the know, Kristine is a friend of ours from high school, and so were many of the folks we bumped into there: Rajit (of course), Jocelyn, Virve, Janice, Miguel. We missed Alex, Paul, Craig, Joydip, Nick and Apeksha, all of whom are either on their way or were there and gone before we arrived. Weddings and Funerals – it’s how we stay connected when all else fails.
Kristine if you read this you know you are in our thoughts.
meandering wildly 
Inevitably we are all getting older – stuff like this makes us realize it a little more fully I think. Kristine – if you are reading this, thoughts and hugs go out to you and your family. Love, Allie
Kristine and her mother’s eulogies for Mr.Archer were beautiful. The other stuff said at funerals is nice, but the personal details are what makes you truly appreciate the person you’re paying respects to, and the profound loss the family will feel. We all got a real sense of how awesome a father and husband he was.
We’re a lucky group, you know. And pretty rare, from what I’ve learned. We don’t stay in touch every day, and have to play catch-up when we meet, but we still meet. Almost 10 years after high school. Its downright unusual, and so great.
The line between friends and family is a really blurry one for me.