Remember.

Last Thursday, the UAB community lost a tremendous person.  Dr. Dale Benos, who was the chair of the Physiology and Biophysics Department, died suddenly of a heart attack, about a week after his 60th birthday. He was out for an evening jog with his wife.  It was a complete shock. I cried for him, for the wonderful person we lost, and for his wife and two teenage daughters.  

I called (okay, I texted) my dad to tell him I loved him.

Dale taught my ethics class in grad school, and it was clear that he loved teaching.  He has been incredibly kind to me through the years (I'm pretty sure he never forgot a face), and from the number of people present at his memorial service, to everyone around him.  He was an amazing person who I met with just 6 days before his death to borrow some materials for my own teaching activities.  He showed tremendous interest in my goals, was thrilled for my interest in teaching, and even gave me some suggestions for my own career aspirations. I left the meeting in such a great mood, excited for the future, and made a mental note to meet with him more often.   But then he was gone, in a flash. 

Rob and I both had Dale as a teacher at some point, and we thought it appropriate to attend the memorial service, which was held yesterday at Church of the Highlands.  It was quite a nice service, despite the pastor obviously trying to recruit souls to salvation for the last 15 minutes or so.  (That part was completely inappropriate.) The point is that Dale was remembered by many as a kind, godly person who loved his family more than anything and always tried to do right by the people around him.

We didn't say anything about it, really, but Rob and I spent a lot of time together this past weekend.  We had lunch on Friday (which we NEVER do on a workday---too busy, you know?), went out for yogurt Friday night, went for dinner Saturday night, etc.  We have a tendency to sort of go our separate ways on the weekends (we both have so many projects!) but I think this sudden sense of loss made us think twice about that. 

Things like this always make me think of the ones I love the most, how much they mean to me, and what I would do and feel if they were suddenly gone.  Just gone, with no preamble and no real explanation. 

So.  That was my weekend.  Somewhat reflective, but definitely not boring.  Sometimes it's nice to just remember.