He seems sad these days

My best friend is laboring under a dark cloud. I suspect it's work related, but I don't know for sure because when he tried to talk to me yesterday, I was under the watchful gaze of three (count 'em, THREE) office mates and by the time I could call him back, he was in a two-hour long conference call. Today he was too overwhelmed by work and the news out of Denver to talk.

While I am very grateful that no one he knows personally was touched by the tragedy, I understand how a local event can get under your skin. I am still haunted by the tragedy of Yummy Sandifer, the murderous 9-year-old gangbanger who was assassinated himself back in 1994. And I haven't forgotten Nailah Franklin, the much loved Chicago woman who was abducted and murdered in 2007 (and whose accused killer is still awaiting trial).

I also learned from exchanging emails with him that. for many in Colorado, Columbine is still a sensitive wound and this just tore it open again.

My best friend is a good man who is very involved with his daughters, very worried about his dad and his siblings -- especially one of his sisters, because he fears her drinking is interfering with her role as mother. So in a way I hope it's "just" work and the Dark Knight shooting that are bothering him. Because the massacre, while heart breaking, is outside of his sphere of influence, and work problems come and go.

I love my friend and I hope the sunshine finds him soon.