Last week I lost a friend.
He was a little crazy, but he had a good heart. After hurricane Maria, when the federal government withheld disaster aid, and most of Puerto Rico had no electricity or water, he took it upon himself to distribute donated food, water and medications to people who lived in inaccessible areas, the elderly, and the sick.
He would regularly check on his neighbors, to make sure everyone was holding on.
We met when we were both toddlers. Over the years he founded several businesses, back when it still made sense to start businesses in my hometown, and he prospered.
My friend leaves it all behind.
Then, one day, he sold most of his businesses, left his brother in charge of the one he didn’t sell, and went traveling around the world.
He learned Brazilian jiu-jitsu from the Gracie family in Brazil, scaled Mount Everest, and had plenty of adventures.
When he came back, he was stone cold broke, but full of stories and ideas for new ventures.
Parkour, my friend?
A few months ago, he fell from the roof of his house and shattered his heel. I kidded him that he was too old to be practicing parkour (if you don’t know what that is, click on the link and check it out on YouTube), but the truth is he was doing some maintenance up there.
On the other hand, his house has a perfectly good staircase that leads to the roof, and he decided to forgo the staircase and leap to the ground instead, like Spider-Man, so there’s that.
The consequences of sitting.
As a result of his injury, he had limited mobility. He wound up sitting around the house for long hours.
Sitting for too long can lead to reduced circulation in the legs and increased risk of blood clots. If a blood clot breaks off, it can travel to the lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism, which can lead to a stroke.
I tried to advise my friend, encouraging him to move without overdoing it, but he was a stubborn man. He wouldn’t listen when people told him his business ideas wouldn’t work, and his success emboldened him.
In the end, the stubbornness that led to his business successes may have cost him his life.
I’ll miss him.
And what does all this have to do with writing, with my books? I’ll tell you.
Death, the writer, and his friend.
One of the characters in Justice Wakes the Dogs is based on this friend.
I started writing before he died, but the character is staying in the story. It is a sort of homage to a lifelong friendship.
My friend’s death is also a reminder that we will eventually join the majority. It is a reminder to make our days count, spending time with loved ones, doing what we love, and spreading loving kindness wherever we go.
Because the problem is, we think we have time.
Attending his funeral made me think of how I would like mine to be.
Right now, I’m thinking of mariachis.
What do you think?
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