yesterday at 8:30 pm while i sat in the er waiting room not sure what was going on with you, i was broken the news that you had passed. instantly tears came and i couldn’t believe it. i still can’t. i credit ben for everything i’ve accomplished. when people say they have “day ones,” ben quite literally made my day 1. from our first interaction where you venmo’d some random broke 18 year old kid from the chicago suburbs $1000, to our last interaction that same morning where you dapped me up, told me you loved me, and told me to drive safe back home. something felt off about that last goodbye, but i didn’t know why. ben was the most impactful person i’ve ever met. he somehow played the role of a father, older brother, best friend, and mentor to me. anytime i had a problem, i would go to him for advice. business problems? call ben. girl problems? call ben. life problems? he was always there for me. he taught me everything i know. he gave a burst of energy to every room he walked into. i’ve never met a single person who disliked him. this last week i spent every day with him at his parents’ place a little north of west palm. we did everything together. we were even planning to live with each other. he was the one person i could never get sick of hanging out with. now i sit with your immediate family, who i met for the first time, and we are all in shock. out of all the evil people in this world, i cried to God asking, “why him?” rest in peace to my best friend in existence. i love you forever. and like you told me on day 1, i will never fuck this up.
i don’t care for a “sorry about your loss” text. instead, take the time out of your day to do one of these:
- hug your close ones tighter than usual, you never know when someone can collapse out of the blue
- watch a video of his, read some tweets, or emails. he was the smartest person i knew, and for being so young, he was so wise. although he passed, his words should live on forever
- give gratitude for what you have right now, something you have today can be taken in an instant by tomorrow