This sucks!

I was browsing my old university's website on monday I think..and on the main page it said that my friend had died. I was shocked! Only a few months ago was it that I was trying to get a hold of Mike..I remembering writing to his pilot-airborne nickname/e-mail, and it had come back to me. I never knew that the only other time I'd hear of him would be this. The last time we ever got to speak was the summer of 2003 when he was at the student union recruiting for ROTC. He was one of those people, who I had a ton of courses with, considering we were both biology majors, and especially microbiology majors. Funny as heck..he could joke about anything.

I still remember the day when I was TAing a microbiology course next to his Food Microbiology class. And I had just gotten done giving the lecture and was answering questions, and there walked in Mike, saying "you gotta check out this thing underneath my microscope"...I went there leaving my students, to see such a beautiful bacteria with peritricious flagella (basically lots of hair--used for movement) (not so common in isolates that I had worked with)..and we both ooogled over it. It was amazing.

It saddens me that I read online from newspapers that his "body" will be shipped to the USA. Just the fact of body, a lifeless thing is so scary; because it's completely the opposite of what I saw Mike as. He was such an active person with so much energy jumping around, and at times walking into class telling me about how much work he had to do in the morning for training etc. I read online that his funeral is today..I'm sure it already happened. I just cannot believe. It has hit me a bit..but it's very hard knowing that he is my first friend who died...and in such a way :(

Well..I took a lab break to write this...back to work.