I learned about love and friendship and taking people for granted and not taking people for granted. I learned that in life, you will meet a lot of people, but very few will actually make a difference, very few will change you and even fewer will inspire you to want to be better. On the other hand, I also saw what happens when your body turns on you, when something goes horribly, unspeakably irreversibly wrong. I saw what that split second change does to a family. It made me aware for the first time like a spotlight, a screaming voice, a car crashing in front of me, that life is brief.
Life is tiny.
Like writing, it is a gift, not a given. Never take it for granted. Kick and fight and fuck and kiss and bleed and cry and make it big steamy mess, but fill it with love and friendship and live it the way you choose and take what you want and do not sit back and wait for it to be given to you. You will lose out, in the end and have no one to blame but yourself. I often wonder what things would be like if Tina hadn't died.