Writing My Friend’s Obituary

by Ben Halevy

I remember the evening when my parents told me he had passed away. I was taking a nap after work and my mother woke me up to deliver the news. I remember thinking it was just a nightmare. I remember feeling shock, anger, sadness and every negative emotion mixed together. But most of all, I remember wanting to honor Ezra Kennedy’s life in any way I could.

I had met Ezra on the EIS Ultimate Frisbee Club, and we had continued playing together in high school. But since I decided I was not going to be playing Ultimate Frisbee in the fall, I felt somewhat disconnected from my teammates and friends’ ideas to honor Ezra. While the frisbee team bounced around ideas about how to honor Ezra, from naming a tournament after him to developing jerseys with his number, I knew I needed to find a way to keep his legacy alive.

I knew Hi’s Eye would be writing an obituary for Ezra, so I immediately took charge in organizing the creation of a perfect tribute for him. It was a long, arduous and emotionally wrenching process involving me interviewing his family and friends about their recent loss. Many of Ezra’s and my mutual friends were not the best with words, nor were they open about their emotions. But they still were willing to help in order to ensure that everyone knew who he truly was.

Although the interviews I conducted with his peers were impactful, they paled in comparison to the interview I had with Ms. Donna Kennedy and Mr. Kevin Kennedy, his parents.

As soon as I entered Ezra’s house, I felt strange since Ezra wasn’t there. Pictures of Ezra were everywhere, but they weren’t him. The Kennedy parents were more than willing to talk to me; they wanted to keep Ezra’s memory alive in the WHS community.

After the interview, they thanked me. Not for interviewing them, not for writing the article, but for being Ezra’s friend. People never think of being someone’s friend as a chore, or even a task, yet they still thanked me.

Being a senior in high school, I am in the home stretch of my career in Westfield, and thus, I may be spending the last year ever with all of my childhood friends. I will not know when the last time I talk to my friends is; it may be today, it may be in 20 years, but the sad truth is that it will happen. I know losing my friends will be difficult, but I will make sure I thank them for all they have done for me.

While I couldn’t fit this quote in my tribute, Ms. Kennedy said something very powerful: “The more deeply connected you are with someone, the harder it is to lose them…We should be grateful for those relationships.”

I didn’t get to say it before I lost you, but thank you, Ezra Kennedy. Thank you for being my friend.