Heart Advice

5 lessons I learned after 5 friends under 30 died in 5 years

''A good chunk of my mid-20s revolved around funerals. That's not how I usually like to start conversations, but it's the reality I live with. In under five years, I lost five friends around my own age to suicide, cancer, diabetes, heart failure, and addiction.

It was rough. It was always unexpected (except for the cancer). It reached a point where my boss at the time accused me of using the "funeral excuse" as a lie for skipping work, which was really not a fun conversation to have.

But after suffering through so much grief in quick succession, I learned a thing or two (or five) that might come in handy if this happens to you...''

by Thom Dunn