Absent friends

[mtbc]

On Monday I sat on a bench that was dedicated in somebody's memory and thought about how there is supposed to be a bench in Cambridge memorializing somebody I had known. Yesterday I was helping with a question related to mail folders that caused me to notice that on one of my servers a folder was larger than I expected: some IMAP mail had got stuck and I freed it. One of the messages turned out to be from another deceased friend. One friend had been a bit younger than me, the other a bit older, but not by much.

It feels strange to not be very old myself but to already have peers who have passed on. It is also strange to reflect on the many ways we leave traces of ourselves behind. I try to remember people anyway.