I came to the office this morning with an upbeat attitude after spending a fantastic weekend with friends. Upon setting my coffee mug down, I did my routine email checks and, as normal, there were several from one of my colleagues in Boston. The first one had another colleagues’ name on the subject line. As I double-clicked on the email, there was slight excitement that it might be an announcement of an engagement, wedding or even a promotion. To my utter shock, it was a very upsetting news about her death. She died in a car accident in Boston last Saturday afternoon. As I was reading the brief message that was forwarded from the President of our Boston office, I felt shortness of breath and uttered her name over and over. “Ann-Marie… Ann-Marie… Ann-Marie…”

I read the next email from the same person and it contained a link to the news item on Boston Herald. WARNING: The photos with the news article contains distressing pictures of the crash! A copy of the first email was sent to our team with an added note from our new CEO, saying that the funeral has already been arranged for this coming Thursday.

There were quite a few of us here who know Ann-Marie. She came to the UK several times but most of our interactions were on the phone and email. On the phone, she had this smiling voice that is so infectious that one cannot help but smile, too! She organised all the company events in North America and since I assist in some of these events, I got to know her. In the last event that I attended with her at Phoenix back in 2005, we were talking about making plans to go somewhere — a sidetrip from one of any future events that we were both attending. There were three conferences since then: Dallas in May 2006, Orlando in May 2007 and Boston last October of this year. Due to other work commitments, I had to cancel my trips, thus cancelling the opportunity to go somewhere with Ann-Marie, too. Now we won’t be able to, ever.

Events like these are reminders that life can really catch us offguard. As much as we plan and plan the future, there is no certainty that – even with our best efforts – that they will come to fruition or even be here fulfill it. It is a witness that each day should be lived as if it were our last. Not only for our own pleasure but most importantly to make that difference albeit little to other people’s lives. To say thank you to those who have done us a favour. To say I love you to those who matter.

There is one less good person in the world and I will surely miss her sweet voice and her innocent yet infectious smile.

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