In thinking about the death and loss of a professional colleague the authors identify with the "tumult of feelings" that Simone Beauvoir notes in speaking of death. They occasion the void of understanding of this loss with a reflection on the nature of friendship. In doing so they align themselves with philosopher, Alexander Nehamas, who, in contrast to Aristotle and Cicero, sees not virtue as central to friendship but, instead, the enhanced opportunity to feel generously complete and yet safely incomplete. The reflection weaves in the thoughts of a variety of literary authors and considers a coming of age movie, "Stand by Me," as exemplary of the ideas that are presented.