They Told me This Time Would Come...

Because "Why Not," I belong to a Facebook group for the small English language school I went to during my teen years, when we were living in the south of Spain.

It's kind of interesting and nostalgic to check in from time to time to see what people are doing, these decades later.

Sometimes, it gets a bit sad, though.

Earlier today, Philip — who's the group admin — posted the announcement that one of our schoolmates had passed away. Passed away, last year, and nobody knew about it till now.

Pam would slip into my Facebook DMs from time to time and we'd chat about old times. She lived in the apartment complex behind our house, and we'd hang out from time to time... often under one of the big fig trees on the golf course, discussion the "deeper meaning" of Lord of the Rings and other "important stuff" as 15-year olds might.

We weren't exactly boyfriend/girlfriend, but we also weren't exactly not. We went on dates and did things together, but we were not "dating."

She was wildly creative, and built a successful business in Florida, all centered around her art, and seemed to be living happily with her husband, a charter boat captain.

Anyway, it was my auntie who told me — back when I was maybe 20 years of age — that there comes a time in your life when you start noticing that people in your peer group are dying. If you're blessed with good health — as she was — you might end up with the unenviable role of being the last one to still be alive.

Of course, Pam was still relatively young, but had been struggling with some health issues. I hopefully have many more years to go, and "that time" is still a place out in the future.

Even so, it was sobering to see Philip's message. Seems like it was not that long ago we were all strange global nomad kids in a strange land, brought together by circumstances most people don't get to experience.

As I took a break to enjoy my afternoon coffee, I felt a lot of gratitude for the goodness and beauty of life as we do have it. Life is precious, and surprisingly fragile... and all of a sudden we may not be here, anymore.

Make the most of it!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great Friday!

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Created at 2025.07.17 23:55 PDT
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