Damn

I learned yesterday that you can have a very screwed up relationship with a person, but when something really terrible happens to them you really do feel awful.

Long story short- the only real high school drama I was ever involved in came near an end when the person in question's father was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Despite the stupid drama, I still told the person in question that I'd be around for her, although the drama continued. That was three and a half years ago. Her father passed away yesterday.

I think I was as shocked as I was sad- I had heard something about them deciding to give up treatment. Maybe I didn't think it would end so soon (after all, everyone that I have known who has succumbed to cancer took a long time to do it- when they were given the amount of time left to live in months, they stuck around for years); maybe it just didn't seem real to me that it could actually end like that. I guess I didn't know how bad it was. I don't feel guilty for that (therapy's working!), but I was that much more shocked. I'm really concerned for his family- his wife (who survived cancer when the girls were quite young) and two daughters. One is my age. The other graduates from high school in a couple of weeks. He was diagnosed about a month into her freshman year. How tragic is that?

Now, admittedly, this man had his faults. But it's still shocking when someone that you assume is going to make it, well, doesn't. I can't imagine losing my father ever, let alone at this age. Any old personal issues aside, it's a really sad thing to see happen.