Literally identical story (almost) with my best friend in third grade. He was my best friend in school and I don’t remember the day he left for his “break” but I will never forget his last day at school. He was out for about three months. Came back bald. His hair kept coming out in the shower. So he shaved it to avoid that. He looked awesome. He brought laser tag in with him for us all to play. And we did. The teacher, Mrs. Aries, sat in the corner with David’s mom. I wish I could remember her name. They shut the lights off and we had a good time. The next morning, Mrs. Aries had started class and was opening a school email. About 7:30am. And she just started crying so badly. She read a small part of it:

“David passed away at around 3 o’clock in the morning.”

He died of an inoperable brain tumor. I cried myself to sleep literally every night for twelve years. I shaved my head my entire life because I thought that’s what I needed to do.

I’m now 34. I still cry often because of him. But, I’ve started growing my hair out, also because of him. I’m donating it to kids with cancer.

It will never leave you. But you have to take that and exist with that. There’s a song I actually found quite touching, for me. Just a simple line or two; “Hey, man, everywhere you roam, your demons gonna go, but at least you’re not alone.” 30s to mars- remedy. Dope.

Anyway, don’t live your life in fear of what’s to come. Live your life with accepting the inevitable. And you’ll start to smile a bit more.

“Live like there’s no tomorrow but don’t hurt yourself just in case there is one.”