That I lost a former co-worker that I had stayed in touch with for many years ago.

His wife dropped me a line on Facebook asking me if I was so and so. My stomach dropped immediately as I feared the worst. He'd been battling cancer for over a year and when I goggled his name I found the obituary. He died in June.

I found the phone number and called her. She said she searched for me after receiving my card. She felt bad that I hadn't been notified before now. I told her that at time like that, it's hard to remember who to notify and to not apologize. We then went on to talk for a good fifteen to twenty minutes remembering Robbie. I told her how he went to my defense when I was accused of being sloppy in my proofreading by a Navy Commander we were working for. Robbie told my boss the problem was the Commander was taking the work right out of the printer before I even had a chance to check it. We then talked about how he loved doing the Christmas Cards and how much she hated it.

She asked me to please stay in touch and I assured her I would. The sad part is he was only 50 and leaves her and two kids (one college sophomore, one a high school senior)behind.