Where's The Love?

I thought I was doing a decent job completing my challenges, testing my character, stockpiling good karma as I tried to make myself a better person.

I thought.

But it seems life is more willing to toss me additional challenges, rather than reward me with wonderful perks.

The past 48 hours have been particularly trying. Several personal and family friends were involved in the tragic fire in North Carolina, and I have been emotionally drained thinking and talking about them. (Video footage)

This comes on top of another unexpected death of a young friend I used to train with on my hometown swim team.

This is not to say I am not blessed and lucky. There are many great things in my world right now. I know life can be cruel and unfair as easily as it can be beautiful and forgiving, I just hope I get to see the latter characteristics sometime soon.

Friends Helping Friends

It is amazing how hearing someone's voice, their laugh, the way they speak and their silly little slang can conjure up a picture of them.

With their tone you can read their emotions, and if they are good friend, even see their facial expressions in your head.

My friend Dank is one of the sweetest, most genuine guys that I know. He is like a brother to me.

This is a picture of us at a 5K open water swim that our swim team did together.

I was expecting it to be hard to talk to him.

About 6 weeks ago, a mutual friend of ours passed away unexpectedly. She was a few years younger than us, but he was pretty close to her and her family. His school is too far away to be able to come home for the funeral, and I had only

talked to him on the phone after it happened.

It was a hard time for all of us, but knowing he was so far removed from everyone and hearing how stunned and heartbroken he was on the phone made my heart break for him too.

How do you talk on the phone when words offer no solace?

We talked for a while a few days ago, but didn't voice the tragedy that was still heavy on our thoughts. Better to save those topics for when a hug is all the comfort you can offer.

This conversation was much more light-hearted. I told him about how I fell down the stairs in my house, he told me how his friend dumped syrup all over a girl in the dining hall.

And the whole time I could see a happy expression on his face.