U.S. Citizen Murdered in Yerevan BakuTODAY.net

A friend of a friend…. There but for the grace of God go any of us…. Words fail me (knowing perfectly well that I, too, fail words … and deeds).

Joshua was a 33-year-old peace activist & environmentalist who also traveled the world teaching English. He was one of Tetsuya’s friends from Kitakyushu.

Sometimes it’s hard to have connections with others around the world, especially when the emotional distance is not quite as large as the geographical. Coupled with my acute empathy, it’s a wonder I’ve been able to keep moving on emotionally … or geographically. I wish I could be in Fukuoka to comfort my friend who has lost his friend.

My greatest concern is that by referencing Joshua’s death I’ve somehow exploited him or been somewhat guilty of self-aggrandizement: look at me! see how I feel! That certainly is not my intention. I have Sandra Bernhard’s comments on Princess Di’s death always in the front of my mind when I talk/write about others’ tragedies: nobody should care how Tom Cruise felt when he heard the news.

But after a night of poor sleep, I’m too much in my own head today. After blowing off all those emails from my students for yet another day, I’m going to force myself to work out and then head to a coffee shop to read some in Che Guevara’s The Motorcycle Diaries.