As young adults, we don't often think about death. We don't think about the consequences of our actions or how one day, we could just not come home. Yet, when we pass a car accident or see something on the news, the one thought that passes through our mind is usually, "What if that was me?" Or "what if that was my best friend?"
When we do think about death, it's pretty much always about if we lost our best friend, roommate or a family member. What we don't think about is what if someone we only kind of knew passed away? What if it were the girl down the hall or the guy who has had a class with you every semester? What if they died?
This semester alone, the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith has experienced three tragic deaths, all three of which the community has struggled to cope with. These students were someone's children, someone's best friend, and someone's roommate. They were loved, and now, they're immensely missed. I didn't have the pleasure of personally knowing any of the three, but they were still people I knew by name, had talked to once or twice, and even followed on Instagram. Really, they were merely my acquaintances.
Today, months after the accidents, their pictures still surface on my social media every once in a while and their names still come up in conversation. I feel like I know more about them now than I did when they were alive. Although I wasn't close with them, seeing pictures of their life still tugs on my heartstrings and makes me feel as though I may still see them walking across the campus green or sitting in the student center like I have so many times before.
These circumstances should make us realize just how short life is and how much we should appreciate the people we have while we have them. In the words of Tafel Dekken; "Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don't and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said that it'd be easy, they just said that it would be worth it."
