This time of year I enjoy sitting down and setting goals for the coming year. As I was doing that Tuesday morning, I received an email that a good friend from work had suddenly passed away. It was a punch to the gut. This person was literally one of the nicest, most thoughtful people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.
While we hadn’t worked together directly since early 2020, we regularly kept in touch over Microsoft Teams and texts. I could always count on Frat to send me a GIF to say hello or make me laugh. I pinned his chat in my Teams feed because just thinking about him would make me smile. He was that kind of person.
And so while I am still setting big professional and personal goals, and have plans to make lots of progress this year, I also realized that isn’t the most important thing.
My last blog was “Remember who the F you are”. Frat’s passing has inspired a new one, “Remember what matters.” I am not diminishing the importance of my other goals or intentions for the year, but I’m adding a new one; to “Live like Frat.”
I’m going to be more intentional about being a good human being. Randomly send funny GIFs and messages to people to make them smile. Set a goal to text or call at least 3 people each day and let them know I am thinking about them. Make people feel welcome, included, important.
I like to think that these are things I have always tried to do consistently, but I’m going to be much more intentional about it starting today. Frat may no longer be with us physically, but I’m going to keep his memory and legacy alive by trying to live life a little more like he did.
Miss you buddy. Thank you for being such an amazing person and friend.
Xo,
Holly B.