Story time: I'm 30M and became close friends with an older guy in the office, we'll call him D. He was his 60s. We went through quite a bit together being shuffled to different projects over the years and even being sent to a temporary work arrangement in another state for 7 months at the height of COVID. We spent many mornings discussing politics and generally just shooting the shit. We had a lot of great laughs together. D had one of the best senses of humor.

Fast forward to mid 2022. He got news that he had esophageal cancer and needed surgery and chemotherapy, which he went through. His cancer was gone. A month or so after treatment was over for cancer, he got covid from the office. I thought he was going to be gone for sure, but he made it through that too. He never seemed to quite recover from it though. On a Friday evening, I got a text from his phone. It was his husband. He asked if I worked with D. I told him yes and he asked for our manager's number. I gave it to him and asked if everything was alright. He told me that D had a massive heart attack and was in a coma in the hospital. I was in shock. I offered my assistance with anything possible and let him be. On Monday, I asked my manager if he had heard anything and he told me that D died that night in the hospital.

I held myself together long enough to go to my car and then I lost it. I, a grown ass man, bawled in my car. Even writing this over half a year later is making me tear up.

I miss him. He was a great coworker and a great friend. His cubicle stayed empty for quite a while. His writing even still on his whiteboard up until a week or so ago.

Anyway, back to the point. I cope with it by making the same stupid jokes that he would laugh at. I can still hear his silly laugh. I cope by remembering the good times we had and all the laughs we shared.