And the rollercoaster went click
As you probably know from my short update the other day, the other shoe dropped. my advisor's husband lost his battle with leukemia and died Saturday night. The above is what he wrote on Twitter (tweeted?) from Boston right before receiving his bone marrow transplant, knowing that rougher days lay ahead. Although I don't do Twitter, myself, I very occasionally followed his posts, and remember that one for all its meaning, and now it's a little poignant.
There were numerous professors and many of my classmates/lab mates from school at his funeral. I'd never been to a Jewish funeral until this one. (FYI, the main "etiquette" thing for non-Jews to know in this situation is that it is not customary to send and receive flowers. It is more typical of Jewish families to accept donations to a charity designated by the family, and if a gift is sent, it should typically be food, or fruit baskets). Anyway...it was obviously a hard day for lots of people.
I don't know what else to say except that it seems wrong, unfair, and unreal that someone so full of life and young (41) is gone. I only met him a handful of times, when my advisor had dinner or holiday gatherings at her house, but his warmth and wit made a strong impression on me (and apparently on countless others locally, and also in the business world).
Alan will be missed. RIP.
