you know people die and you generally hear their surviving loved ones all saying similar things, regardless of who the deceased was. but believe me when i tell you: i never had a single interaction with Lance where i didn't end up smiling and laughing. it was literally impossible to make his acquaintance and not end up with huge smile on your face. he truly did have a special energy that you only ever see in 1/100 if not 1/1,000 people you meet.
this is one of those deaths where, the entire day today, i keep seeing stuff about him all over twitter, and it's still not real. like, some part of me understands that it's real, but the overwhelming majority of me isn't processing it. every time i see his face i am in complete denial. like this has to be a bad dream. ugghhhhh.
Lance loved life. that's what makes this so hard. he was doing what he loved, with the people he loved, and being paid well to do it, and he had decades on decades ahead of him, just living his dream. there are people who are suffering who have no quality of life; there are people who are out here robbing and killing with no conscience; there are people who only take and leech and suck; and then there are people out here like Lance, people who exclusively make other people's lives brighter, happier, and better. and it's just extra hard when someone like him is gone with so much wonderful life ahead of him. i still can't believe it's real. i just can't believe it's real.