charlobo-a-go-go

“Hey, did you hear the news?”

Some of you who go to USF or went to USF, more like, heard the news recently about the shooting and death of Hyman Taylor. Go ahead and read it. I’ll wait for you.

My mind snapped back to some of Hyman’s first days at USF. He came to my office to handle some business, sat down on our couch, and closed his eyes as if to take a few for some rest.

“How’s it going?” I asked him. He opened his eyes, smiled, and told me things were well. We exchanged a few more pleasantries and then went onto our own business. This was the context of our relationship. Touching base, greeting, and being folks. He was 6’9”, I am 5’0”. Without doubt that 17 inches of difference didn’t seem to far away after all.

As in any job, loss is inevitable, but I tend to see it from an arm’s length, away from me. It’s someone I heard of or someone I barely knew. I can’t say Hyman and I were homies, but our exchanges I will always remember as pleasant, kind, and punctuated with smiles.

So to hear of his life cut short like this cuts a little because I knew him. It makes me sad because he was part of my landscape like so many students are, but he, literally stood up taller than the rest. So it was easy to pick him out, wave, say hello.

Life moves so fast, and hellos go to goodbyes equally fast. I’m grateful I had the chance to say hello.

Char

6/14 update: this report and update about the circumstances around his death make me even more sadder.