I'm in a bit of a melancholy mood as I've gotten bad news over the past few days about people who, while not close friends, are people I'd rather still have around than not.

The first is a former high school classmate who passed away over the weekend from stomach cancer. He was actually one of the few classmates I was able to find an email for during a spirited round of Google searching a while back, and we traded an email or two. I'd heard about his illness a few weeks ago from another classmate who was looking to do something to help defray costs of treatment that weren't covered by insurance. In the process of helping her I did come into contact with some of the other members of the MHS class of '87, which I suppose is a good thing to come out of something so sad. Though I have a feeling we'll all retreat back into our lives until our 20th reunion, which will hopefully be better attended than our 5th or 10th.

The other case is a woman I met only for a weekend during a quasi-professional training session. She was on that water taxi that capsized in Baltimore harbor, and while she was rescued her injuries were too severe to overcome. I'm amazed sometimes at how events and people intersect; I know a few people who live in the Baltimore area (one of whom is also someone I graduated from high school with), but the person I know involved in this tragedy isn't from the area at all.

Without knowing what more to say, I'd ask that you include these folks in your thoughts or prayers or what have you.