Stunned

I’m at a loss for words.

One of my closest friends, David Honigsberg, died this morning.

David was only forty-eight. He was a writer, a gamer and game designer, a musician, a computer whiz, and a rabbi. But first and foremost he was a wonderful person: smart and funny and friendly and low-key and incredibly loyal and supportive.

He and I met eight years ago through mutual friends and immediately clicked. His wife Alexandra often joked that David and I shared the same brain, and it’s true that when together we would think along the same lines, so much so that we could often talk and even joke in verbal shorthand. There was a long stretch where we had lunch together once a week, and it was always one of the highlights of my week.

For those of you who were at my and jendaby’s wedding, David was our rabbi. He also officiated at the baby-namings of both our children. We couldn’t even imagine asking anyone else.

I last saw David at LunaCon, and I’m so glad we had the chance to have lunch and catch up. We hadn’t seen much of each recently, because he was busy with schoolwork (he was getting a graduate degree) and we were both busy with family and work, but we kept in touch. We were working on a comic-book project together, which I will do my damnedest to see published in his honor.

Six months ago David suffered a heart attack. It was unexpected, and he recovered beautifully. He recently posted on his LJ that he’d had his six-month review and the doctor was very pleased with how he was doing. But early this morning he had a massive coronary. The EMTs arrived promptly but couldn’t revive him.

Funeral and memorial details will be posted as soon as I know them.

I can’t think of anything else to say. My friend is gone. I miss him already.