Clifford passed away on the first day of this month from brain tumour.

In the US, approximately 2000 children and adolescents younger than 20 years of age are diagnosed with malignant brain tumors each year

- Wikipedia

And the US population is 305 million. You do the math.



The news came as a shock; everyone thought everyone was kidding. I was surprised at my initial nonchalance, which had been disbelief in disguise. I had thought that Jen had been duped by Yi Zhong and Yang Xu, but his Facebook wall told me that wasn't the case. As did the photo at his wake.

Clifford was special. He still is. Not in the romantic sense, but in a way everyone who knew him could appreciate.

I can't quite muster the energy to launch into a lengthy soliloquy about what this has made me realise, but you can be sure I'll be scrambling to call on each and every friend I still care about.



When it rains, it pours.