Gone Too Soon

R.I.P. Merijn Van Wezel





I just got word from a friend back home that Merijn died yesterday. I've known Merijn for most of my life. His mother and mine are second cousins, his eldest brother and I are only months apart, shared a crib together as babies and were good friends over the years. His second oldest brother, and mine, were best friends all through childhood. I didn't know him that particularly well, and I haven't seen him in a few years, but he was a really nice guy.

And so this afternoon an email from a family friend, and neighbour of him and his parents. Merijn had an accident while on holiday in Italy. He went out for a walk with his girlfriend in the afternoon, she returned earlier and he wanted to stay out a bit longer. When he didn't come back after a couple of hours the alarm was sounded, and they searched until dark. He was found Monday morning. He'd fallen 20 meters into a ravine, leaving him unrecognisable. He'll be brought home at the end of the week to be buried at the small local cemetary in my home town.