A week or so ago I posted that a neighbor had been told that everything possible had been done to treat his cancer. His wife brought him home when the doctors had given him about two weeks to live.

He died this morning. I think he was in his early 50s, and was a husband, father, grandfather, and a dentist, a well-liked and respected professional in our community.

It’s a strange thing to consider. He was alive, and then he was gone. Such a presence…and then a voice stilled. That’s how someone’s death affects me, as a voice that’s been stilled. It’s a sad day in our little town.