A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews.

 
I don't usually look at the obituary notices in the New York Times, but for some reason I did one morning last week. There was a familiar name, that of my law school classmate and fellow summer associate.

During the summer of 1996 (I couldn't help but notice that the firm's obit got the year wrong), among a total of around 40 summer associates, I and six of my law school classmates worked at a large midtown firm. It seems inexplicable that two of those six have now died under tragic circumstances.

The summer of '96 was extremely intense outside of the office. It was also an intense 13 weeks in my first real job. Afterward, I chose to work at another firm.

I have never been back to the firm since, and before long lost touch with a number of people whom I had quickly gotten to know well during those 13 weeks.

It would be trite - and probably also disingenuous - to claim to have learned an important lesson as a result of this latest tragedy.

The best to hope is that the mourners can be comforted, and that the rest of us can keep life's pressures in their proper perspective and choose to prioritize what is really important.
posted on 1/18/2009