One year ago, Neha Suri died of bacterial meningitis. One might describe Neha as a senior at UW-Madison originally from Singapore, a student majoring in journalism and political science, an employee of UW Rec Sports and a member of The Daily Cardinal. But those descriptions hardly give justice to the person Neha was.
I did not know her as well as I would have liked, but whenever I saw her about the office she greeted me warmly and joked around as if we were old friends. She was never afraid to speak her mind, but did so in a way that made you appreciate her criticism. I was always startled by her wide, brown eyes—eyes that seemed on the lookout for her next adventure.
We weren't too close, but during her illness I had the privilege to get to know her friends, an extremely warm and close-knit group known as the ""Bassett family,"" owing to the street they all lived on. For a week, members of the Bassett family sat by her bedside at University Hospital, playing games and making posters, swapping their favorite stories about their friend's sassy wit and kind intelligence.
After spending the day at the hospital, they'd convene at the house on Bassett Street they'd all come to call home. There they played music, cooked mountains of food and drank Red Stripe—her favorite. I was lucky enough to be invited into the Bassett family's house for one such night, and it made me realize that friendship can become a sort of religion, a way to live your life to its fullest, fulfill the lives of those around you and find comfort during times of grief.
It would do us all well to think about the people who we would sit vigil for and who would do the same for us. We have family and friends who care about us, who will reach out to us even when we don't want them to. We have homes to live in and beds to sleep in. We have food and water. We have the chance to get a world-class education. It's difficult to remember how lucky you truly are until you're confronted with the fragility of life—at least it was for me.
I'm not going to preach ""carpe diem"" and tell you to go skydiving in case you can't tomorrow. But at times like this, when it's dreary out and spring break seems so far away, it's good to remember that the Capitol is especially beautiful covered in snow, and maybe this will be the semester you finally do something you've always wanted to. There are wonderful things to look forward to every single day, to cherish every single day, and that's something few people I know understood better than Neha.
Emma Roller is a senior majoring in political science and journalism. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
