Like we need more reminders.
Hug your kids. Embrace those who matter. Cherish life.
Sounds simple, right?
The hows and the whys of a tragic death of a college student on the University of Notre Dame campus don't really matter to me now. There will be plenty of time for those questions to have answers.
Declan Sullivan was 20 years old and one my daughter's best friends. Lauren is a junior at Notre Dame, and Declan was one of her first "guy friends" on campus. Thrown together in the chaos of orientation, they had a friendship that just morphed over time.
She called home to share the news of the horrific collapse of the scissors lift at the Notre Dame practice field, from which Declan was shooting practice video. And then called a short while later when word began to spread on campus of his passing.
She was among those who received his "tweet" that had the typical all-in approach of a young male with a touch of gallows humor.
"Gusts of wind up to 60 mph. Well, today will be a fun day at work. I guess I've lived long enough."
He didn't. He hadn't. And now he won't.
I didn't know Declan personally, but you always ache if one of your kids is aching. My daughter is part of an entire community of parents' kids who are aching.
He was described as "completely addicting to be around, like no one else you ever met."
And "although he may not be here, his soul is impossible to leave this campus and those who have known him."
The sense of community at Notre Dame is never greater than when students and alumni are arm and arm, swaying, singing their emotional alma mater, "Notre Dame, Our Mother."
That's how they ended an elbow-to-elbow, standing-room-only Mass in the tiny chapel within Declan's dormitory house last night. It was to be sung in a much larger setting Thursday night at a Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. You can almost hear the throats catching already. Sobbing is inevitable.
There was some talk of whether to cancel the school's scheduled game Saturday against Tulsa, but the Sullivan family would have none of that. Declan would have had none of that.
His passing should just be another notice to us that life is tenuous.
Make sure those that you love know that today.
Oct. 28, 2010
