Two Fridays ago, as I was settling into the final work day of my first week at my new job, a long-time friend of mine (I would refer to Liza as an "old friend" but for the fact she appears to be ageless) shared sad news with me regarding the far-too-soon passing of one of her classmates at W-H, Adam Conner. "AC" was just fifty-two years young when he died on February 4, 2021.
I was two years ahead of their class at W-H but Adam and I were teammates on the basketball team when I was a senior and he was sophomore. It seemed to me as if the two of us had known one another forever. My father worked for W-H literally up to the moment he died in May 1981. Mom worked at W-H as a secretary in the Development Department throughout our high school years and for a few years thereafter. Adam's dad, Al Conner, also worked at W-H as a Head Custodian and the man responsible for Facilities Management. Al Conner is one of the finest men I have ever known. His son, Adam, was an apple who placed no daylight between himself and the tree from whence he came.
It saddened me to learn of Adam's death. He is two years younger than I am. Among those left behind to mourn his passing are his wife, their two sons, and their three granddaughters. Tragically, Adam's mom and dad, Lola and Al, are among those mourning his loss too. According to his obituary, "AC" was the youngest of Lola and Al's five sons. He is the second one Lola and Al have had to bury.
It is nothing short of a disturbance in the natural order of the universe for a parent to bury a child. It is an injustice of the highest order for any parent to have to bury more than one child. When such an injustice can be visited upon souls as gentle and kind and undeserving of such inequity as Al Conners and Lola Conners, you are reminded powerfully and most certainly that while life may be many things, it is not fair. Not now. Not ever.
Condolences to those "AC" loved and those who loved him most of all.
-AK
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