12/06/2023
The morning of Saturday, November 25th, I got a phone call from a friend that never calls without texting. One of my best friends from childhood, Justin Atwell, died unexpectedly.
He was an incredible person. The most positive and accepting person I have ever known. When I had to switch schools at the beginning of second grade, he was the first one to invite me into his friend group. And while we drifted apart when we went different geographic directions after high school, I always enjoyed running into him back home on holiday breaks, or chatting from time to time to get caught up on each others' lives.
I still don't really know what to say. But I do know that the world was better off with him in it. I am thankful for the memories I have, and the friends I still have as a result of his kindness. And that in his too-brief time with us, he was able to leave a mark on so many others in his time as a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder.
I dug through my catalog of photos for something that might help with a lack of proper words. This is the best I could come up with. The world is a darker place without you, bud.
