My cousin passed away this morning.
His side of the family enjoyed considerable success. He grew up with my wildly successful aunt, who quite literally cut a bloody path of heads in the Chinese financial world until she made her way to a place near the top of a major multinational bank. He was a successful amateur tennis player and competitive swimmer in his youth, and went to and graduated from Upper Canada College. He later attended school in the UK, and ended up getting a pretty good job in Hong Kong in the financial world.
We were never close, but his mother and I were pretty friendly. We were both the sort of cool-under-the-collar kinds of people with ambitions and odd sensibilities, He got married a couple of years ago into Swedish nobility, but I didn't get to attend his marriage in Tuscany because my kids were just coming of age. I wasn't there when his son was born. The last time I saw him was at an event two years ago, where he came in like a tornado on a red-eye. The term "jet-set playboy" fit him to a T.
This weekend is the Moon Festival. He was vacationing at a resort in Hong Kong -- you can't really leave -- with his wife and child to celebrate it. Early yesterday morning, he was walking with his wife and child-in-stroller when he slipped, lost his balance, and fell off a precipice. He suffered a brain injury and severe internal injuries. The doctors tried to staunch the bleeding, but he succumbed a couple of hours ago.
Success is never a guarantee of immortality, or even a long life. My cousin had a lot of things going for him and his life was heading in a trajectory that many of us admired. But for COVID, I'd be getting a plane ticket and flying out to see my aunt and her family. The most I can do at this time is send an e-mail. My cousin is my father's god-son, and to hear my father brokenly crying on the phone -- he told me he had never felt so weak and helpless in his 80+ years -- was incredibly trying.
Hug your loved ones tight tonight, please.
