The only certainty in life...

...has just happened to a friend / colleague of mine.

You realise they crossed the lines to friends when you get the news and cry, when you have to break it to other friends, when you don't want to work with anyone else.

He was someone I respected very much.

I don't know if I ever told him that, at least not sober.

I remember hesitating the last moment I saw him, wondering if I should ask him to lunch before he left, and then letting it go.

I remember him teasing because of the cricket score.

And he died alone.