At nearly 60 years old, Danny Vega had taken to evening walks in his South Seattle neighborhood because he cared about his health. While most of us, myself included, are at home thinking about kicking up our daily exercise routines like we all know we should, Vega was out there every day putting us all to shame.
He could have been a poster child for the mayor's efforts to get more Seattleites walking and biking around the city or for Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign. The fads of the time aside, Vega walked because, according to his friends, he knew he had a lot to live for. He loved his life. We should all be so fortunate.
Today, Danny Vega is dead. He passed away over the weekend in the hospital, surrounded by family and friends who desperately loved him. Today, while you're reading this, going on about your daily routine, his family plans his memorial. They wrestle with the impossible task of making sense out of the by-this-point-in-time-clich