Nothing brings out our connectedness like loss. One of those universal experiences that reminds us of both the tenuousness of life and the permanence of the presence of others in our lives. You are a part of me and that is why it hurts to say good-bye and why it is impossible to completely say good-bye, because your body is not all of you. You are not me, but I am not completely me without you, and that can never change once friendship has intermingled us.