Cole died last week. I found out today. A car crash. I wouldn’t have wondered about his absence if not for a message from someone who talked with him regularly. People disappear. That’s how it is. But how, or where, or why. Not considered, especially in this age.

I read various thoughts from people about his death. It began to affect me. I wrote him a personal note about our shared love of literature and short stories. He gathered a group of us together into a short story club. I got to read many stories I wouldn’t have otherwise read. His impact is marked. A strange thing, you know? Myriad connections. Lives we wouldn’t otherwise know. Stories we wouldn’t otherwise have.

I finished the note with, “Goodbye.” I couldn’t maintain composure without it. Another grave to visit for last respects.