Friday Knows Tea

2016 has barely gotten its sea legs, and already we find ourselves in seemingly perpetual mourning over great artists, inspirational figures and beautiful friends both personal and widely shared. I can barely look at social media this month without seeing people collectively weeping over the loss of those who have touched our lives and transformed us. Recently, a friend told me he lost three people close to him in one week. The depth to which it shook him shifted my day's outlook as well. I've never met these people, but I feel them through his grief. They left a mark on me by leaving a mark on him. A few days ago, we lost David Bowie. I don't know a single person who hasn't been  in some way or another struck by this man with an inspiration to create, to express, to embrace their own inner Weird. This morning I woke to news of Alan Rickman's passing. I cried like everyone else, stunned by the unexpected ache left in my nostalgia centers. My Professor...