Death and Life

My cousin Billy died yesterday.

And then he didn’t.

Billy was out walking the dogs at his home in California, and collapsed right after walking in the door. His partner called the EMTs immediately, and the paramedics couldn’t revive him. Pronounced him dead on site.

Then, somehow, they managed to revive him on the ambulance on the way to the emergency room. I’m not sure how much time elapsed before Patrick was told that Billy was still alive.

That’s the last word that we had from Sunday afternoon. I’ve been quiet, because there’s still been no update, other than Billy remains in the ICU. No updates on prognosis, other than it doesn’t look good.

We still don’t know what precipitated the collapse. He’s 42 (four years my senior), and seemed to be in reasonably good health. I hadn’t seen him in years, but he had no family history of diabetes or obesity that would indicate any of the usual suspects. Could have been a congenital heart thing. We just don’t know.

Life is short. Spend it wisely. Start today.