On Kobe Bryant and Grieving

This article was originally published at Silver Screen & Roll.

It’s around 2:00 a.m. on August 26, 2016 and I’m restless, unable to really sleep. Again. It’s been like this for weeks. My nightstand starts to hum, my phone is vibrating and lighting up to wake me from my half-slumber, half-haze state.

Under normal circumstances, I’d wonder who the hell is calling at this ungodly hour. These are not normal circumstances, though. I know what this is before I even pick up my phone to see that it is my mom who is calling me.

My father has died.

I answer the phone, resolved to hear the confirmation I did not need, nor want. My wife, ever the light sleeper, is already sitting up next to me when I tell…