Tombol

Dear Malik Family:

I hope that time has started to soften the shock of Tombol's death, if only a little bit, and that in the future you will be able to enjoy the memory of his life with you more than you feel the pain of his loss. I'm sorry I was not able to be at his funeral. You should be proud that he was able to touch all the people who did come, and all the people who have sent the condolences posted on your website. Reading those, and reading the descriptions of him in various newspaper articles, I wish I had gotten to know him even better than I did. I thought he was a great guy, and obviously tons of people felt the same way, from those who knew him intimately to those who had met him only briefly. You should add that knowledge to all the memories you have of him, because your whole family obviously deserves some credit for the man he became, and was becoming.

I'll cut this short before it gets bogged down in a morass of cliches. I am thinking of you, and of Tombol.

-wta