We are barely into November and the holidays are right around the corner. For most, this is the happiest time of the year. Unfortunately, I am looking at the loss of friends.

This year has been rough. I've faced my own mortality, my own stupidity, and then death kept knocking.

I was barely out of the hospital, when a young soldier found military life didn't suit him. He wrote to tell me he was sorry, but he had too much blood on his hands and the next thing I heard was he'd committed suicide.

My brother and sister-in-law came up from Florida. My sister-in-law spent just over a week up here dealing with her mother as illness stole everything from her. My brother got time off and rushed up in time to help his wife and her family deal with the death. I managed to see them for all of maybe 5 hours for the first time in nine years when my mother passed.

So the year isn't over. We have reached autumn and here in the Northeast the leaves are changing and the temperature is dropping. While most are focusing on the holidays, my attention turns inward and my memory is filled with those I have loved and lost. The only thing I can do is go on.  

Never miss the chance to say you love someone. You never know when that might be your last opportunity.