The Day After

It's taken some time for the news to sink in about Craig.

I was in touch with two overseas friends yesterday. One telephoned from Australia. Danni was the third friend at the table during our infamous first and only visit to Hooters. At the time, she was living in Toronto, married to a Canadian, and delighted to welcome a fellow Aussie traveler to Canada. Danni and Craig had gone to school together in Canberra and we'd -- all three -- worked together at CARE.

We talked a lot about Craig and what made him so special.

She reminded me of the time in Canberra that we all arose spectacularly early (I think it was somewhere around 4:30 a.m.) to attend the dawn service on Anzac Day.

Even at this early hour, Craig was bright as a dollar. He'd carefully organized a breakfast, securing a hard-fought table to accommodate our ragtag group. He'd also smuggled some Anzac biscuits into the restaurant to tide us over until our bacon and egg rolls arrived.

Craig was a party waiting to happen.

The second person I chatted with was Gail. Although living in Bangkok and working on HIV/AIDS policy now, she and her partner lived and worked in Indonesia for four years. She was based in Jakarta, speaks fluent Indonesian, and counts innumerable Indonesians among her closest friends.

She knows that this type of extremism doesn't at all reflect the ideology of ordinary Indonesian citizens, and can only negatively impact an economy that is already suffering.

Here's part of what she wrote to me:

I was very relieved to know that no current CARE or FHI Indonesia staff or their families were directly affected, but this news really brings it home, doesn't it? It really can be anyone, any time. I know Indonesia is higher risk than some places, but really, it can be anywhere and if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time...all my Indonesian colleagues are devastated that their country is once again stained with this image of extremism when it is such a small fringe - and Noordin Top is Malaysian.

This is the second tragedy I can remember that befell someone I knew through CARE Australia. In 2004, CARE country director Margaret Hassan, who'd lived and worked in Iraq for more than 25 years, was kidnapped, held hostage, and then murdered. Several of my colleagues had worked with and for her in Jordan for many years.

So there's a lesson here, I guess.

It's to remember that every, every moment is a precious gift. If today was your last day -- and let's hope it's not -- but if it was, would what you're thinking about really be that important?