Someone I played 6s TF2 with committed suicide several days ago. Even after we parted ways back in the day I hoped they’d be well, even though there were warning signs all the way back when.
We didn’t stay close afterwards but one of the things about competitive games is that the people you meet and play with don’t really fade away. You may forget some of the good and/or bad, but names of people who were truly active in the same hobbies you were tend to stick around in the ol’ grey matter.
I think we’re wired by evolution to think about ourselves when someone we know dies. There are lots of things I can reflect on: health, relationships, legacy, accomplishments; a multitude of long-winded self-help topics. The one thing I keep coming back to is that one of my own isn’t with us anymore.
One of the people from my scene is gone forever, even though it hasn’t been “my scene” for some time. Quite literally one of “my people” as they were one of my teammates, even though this particular person was only around me for what now feels like a blip in time. I’m not deep in mourning as our actual time playing together was short, but I feel like I lost something hearing the news today.
It’s such a broken record of a line, but keep in touch with your crew every so often if you can. You really don’t know when it might be the last time.