The Wrong Individual -- by: Anjuli Ayesa del Castillo Roces
Zachary Champommier
January 21, 1992 - June 24, 2010
“In the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing” -Robert Ingersoll
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If we knew who Death would take next, would the world become a more respectful and loving place? Because people would know who is to leave, would truth and peace be said and emerge from that forlorn piece of knowledge? It is so random who He chooses next…
A friend said to me, when a good person is taken from us far too soon, it only means that God needed more angels in Heaven. I also heard that once Death has claimed his prey, that the soul lingers among its loved ones for a week to say last goodbyes in their dreams… I want this “knowledge” to comfort me, and be true.
Unfairness shows its wretched, forsaken face when Death claims the wrong individual. To me and to those who feel the loss where love once was, see it only as the wrong capture. Not only for their youth do we think it’s unfair but, the loss of authenticity that individual brought to us is what makes our hearts ache the most. Tears can only provide so much release— a release much needed, but sometimes never enough.
We are not just slabs of meat on this planet and yet we die like we are. When we are given Life, we are given the guarantee of being the only existing version of us. Forget the look-alikes, the twins, the people that “think” like us! The combination of our being, who we are, makes us the lone, unique fingerprint that is here today. If we die like NOTHING, then we should LIVE otherwise.
When Death takes those we love, the feeling of loss surmounts to this heightened spreading of emptiness that slithers through the body. This snake evolves and swallows all that used to whole within us! Knowledge is what makes us grieve. The knowledge of a fallen… or taken, is what makes water seep from the eyes and blood suddenly race through your veins. Knowledge of the fact that that one version of life, that matchless fingerprint, has forever disappeared from the Universe.
Zac, you said, “Happiness is the driving force of all our actions. Whether we believe it or not, whether we face it or not. No matter the opposition, I believe happiness to be the one true meaning of life, no matter where we find it”. All those that miss you can’t be “happy”—Not without you. Zac, you were that matchless fingerprint. And now, we suffer from the knowledge that you were ripped from our arms far too soon.
