I’m sad today. A friend and co-worker of mine died last week in a boating accident.

Harpal Chohan was 48 years young. That didn’t seem young to me a few years ago, though. He was kind and warm hearted. The one thing I remember most about Harpal is that he always called me Mikey. In normal professional circles this might seem rude, but I didn’t mind. In fact, I was honored that he felt comfortable enough to call me by the informal name that only a few people use.

Harpal was extremely smart and always challenged me with tough questions. He was softspoken, but not quiet if that makes any sense. Our conversations may not have changed the world, but I always felt smarter afterwards.

I’ll surely miss him.

He often joined us at Michi Sushi when we were all out in San Jose for various projects. He missed the last couple of trips because he wanted to spend time with his family in the Bay Area. But here are some pictures from December, 2005.

After hearing this tragic news, my good friend, Doug Rufalo, succintly put things into perspective.

Like Harpal, my Dad died outside the States. He was an expatriate living in Vietnam with his wife, Huong. He died of a heart attack and I traveled to Ho Chi Minh City to bring his wife and his ashes back. I guess I know a little how Harpal’s wife feels. But, loosing a spouse is different.

This is a tweet from TheBloggess on Twitter. I found it interesting that she was dealing with this at time same time as me. Seeing it acutally prompted me to write this post.

The last sentence was confusing to my wife. Her point is that your own death won’t be unexpected to you no matter how it comes. But the better point is when people close to us die it reminds us of our own mortality. And we have to deal with it whether we like it or not. When you are young, you feel like you’ll never die. To quote John Mayer:

I am invincible as long as I’m alive

But as we get older, the realization that life is fragile becomes more apparent. I wish I would have been able to hug my Dad before he was gone. I wish I could have said goodbye to Harpal. So, hug your families tight, it can all be gone in a second.