Few among us get the privilege to bypass the experience of a premature, untimely loss of a loved one. The pandemic of 2020 has added to already existing causes of mortality, making it harder than usual to deny death as an organic part of life. I recently lost two junior high/high school friends as we all turn 50. They were not my closest friends, and yet their untimely death, one due to a prolonged battle with cancer and the other to a suffering-free sudden death during sleep, was impactful nevertheless.