Letter from the Editor: Do You Realize?
Three years ago this Tuesday, the day after Valentine’s Day, one of my best friends died in a horrible and unexpected accident.
Isaac Perrault was intelligent, witty, hilarious — the kind of person I could take around any friend or any relative and have no doubt that they would love him instantly as much as I did. He had an amazing family that loved him unconditionally (a feeling that went both ways, to be sure), and a network of friends that would do anything for him.
Which made it hurt all the worse when he was unexpectedly taken away from us. The church where his service was held was barely big enough to hold the more than 700 people who came back to Tulsa, Okla., from across the country to pay their respects to a life that meant so much, although it was cut so short.
This year, on the third anniversary of his death, Isaac’s family asked many of us that knew him to send them a memory to read to remind them that Isaac hasn’t been forgotten. I was hard-pressed to pick just one, because so many happy times came to mind.
As far as a message I would share with our readers, though, the song “Do You Realize?” by The Flaming Lips, which was played at his funeral, was the first thing that came to mind: Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die? But instead of saying all of your goodbyes, let them know you realize that life goes fast, it’s hard to make the good times, you realize the sun doesn’t go down, it’s just an illusion caused by the world spinning around.
I know Valentine’s Day is a holiday that most people spend taking their significant other out to dinner, sending flowers or moping because they are single. This year, though, I would encourage you to reach out to all of those people in your life that you love and remind them how you feel and that you appreciate the affect they have had on your life.
There is never a bad day to tell someone how much you care.
