SyFriday: The Tragedy Of Dying A Celebrity

Of course, people die young all the time, and sometimes through overdoses or some other health issue. But since so many people have been entertained by younger actors' work, it's easy to notice their death more than others who may not have been famous when they died.

One of the hardest non-family member deaths I had ever had to endure was that of my best friend growing up. His name was Aaron, and he literally lived in a house just behind mine on a different street. It was always fun to hang out with Aaron, because not only was he someone who cared deeply about his friends and treated his friends like kings whenever they were around, but he also had the biggest yard in the neighborhood which was great especially for a kid like me whose total yard is about the size of most people's closets.

When I moved to Florida in 1996, not long after we graduated from high school, we didn't get to stay in touch as much as we used to when we were kids. But that's typical. The last time I saw him was at the wedding of one of our mutual friends in 2000 who also lived in the neighborhood, but he didn't end up coming to the reception, and I ended up sitting with his wonderful parents there instead.

Then in March 2001, I got a phone call from my younger sister. Aaron had been found dead that morning after suffering what was believed to be a stomach aneurysm. I was in total shock, as any friend would be. This was someone I knew practically since kindergarten, who I have a lot of childhood memories of -- including the time he saved the life of me and a few other friends on our senior prom night -- and someone I once thought in second grade was actually an angel because of how amazing he was. And just like that, he was no longer with us.

Although we all know that the only guaranteed event to happen in our life is death, it's still very difficult for us to say good-bye to the people that we love. I am not very comfortable with death, especially my own. I would like to believe there is more to my existence (and anyone's existence) following the death of our physical bodies, but it's really hard to imagine if that's really the case, or if we'll just cease to exist.

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