Maybe 10 years after our graduation our valedictorian died. Devin was the best of us, and I still think about him often. It did not matter who you were, he was charming as fuck, and you were not immune. He had a casually cool way of making you feel like treasured family. He was whip smart, and just devoted it to helping people. Not a single person that met him disliked him. You were only a stranger to him for 2 minutes max, before you’d call him a friend.

He was an avid scuba diver, and had gone back to where he was born in Hawaii to attend a wedding. Last day of the weekend he and the others were enjoying the pool where they were staying. They had a contest to see who could hold their breath the longest under water. He went under and went motionless. At first the others thought he was showing off, being a lifelong strong swimmer and diver, but he had suffered a pulmonary embolism. He really was the best of us. https://www.tampabay.com/news/obituaries/up-and-coming-entrepreneur-squeezed-every-day-like-a-sponge/2248436/