I Thought You Were Dead!

Recently, I received an e-mail announcing the death of someone I barely knew I'll call "Bruce." I've occasionally been in meetings with Bruce (and 40 other people) and I'm sure I have talked to him -- though I can't remember a single conversation. Let's just say I didn't know him well enough to mourn for him, though I felt bad in general for his family.

Last week I was in another meeting that attracted about 30 people from all over the country. The room was filling quickly and I was arranging my notes when I looked up to see Bruce walk in the door! I was speechless! How was this possible?

During the meeting, I kept sneaking a look at him and was finally able to verify the name on his name tag -- yes, this was Bruce! When I got back to my office, I found an e-mail from a different source announcing the death of Bruce -- this one with a photo. Oh, yeah! THAT Bruce! There were similarities, but definitely different people.

In my defense, I didn't talk to him much either.