By now, you’ve seen and heard that NBA legend and future Hall of Famer (to be inducted this year) Kobe Bryant has passed very unexpectedly. The retired Los Angeles Lakers superstar player (who last played in 2016 after 20 seasons), perished in a helicopter accident Sunday morning in Calabasas, CA. Before I go any further, I want to respect the others who passed alongside him as well. As you read on, you’ll see this isn’t so much a “Kobe Bryant” piece, but a “Life” piece. Without further adieu…

RIP KOBE BRYANT.

RIP GIANNA BRYANT.

RIP JOHN ALTOBELLI.

RIP KERI ALTOBELLI.

RIP ALYSSA ALTOBELLI.

RIP SARAH CHESTER.

RIP PAYTON CHESTER.

RIP CHRISTINA MAUSER.

RIP ARA ZOBAYAN.

With the shock still so fresh in my mind, and certainly yours as well, we are faced with the realization of our own mortality. If our heroes can die tragically, and be gone from our lives forever in the blink of an eye, what about our own lives? What about the ones we know personally and love as well? Just as life is real every day we live and breathe, death is just as real, being able to strike anyone at any time. We know this, and yet, we don’t always live that way. We take life for granted.

If you were to ask someone if they will live forever, they would probably laugh at you and admit to knowing they will die someday, perhaps even unexpectedly. But people don’t always believe that. They think (or live everyday) as…