It’s so easy to get caught up in the loosely organized chaos that is college life. With classes, multiple jobs and whatever pathetic attempt at a social life I can muster after all is said and done, I sometimes forget the world does indeed continue to turn outside the Big Orange Bubble.

I was brutally reminded of this fact a few weeks ago when I got a phone call informing me that my grandfather had hit his head and was on his way to the hospital. I drove back to Nashville at my first opportunity and visited him in the ICU. While he wasn’t fully conscious for my visit, I’m indescribably glad I got to see him.

Last Friday, at the age of 87, he passed away peacefully in his sleep.

He was one of the strongest men I’d ever met. After joining the Marines at 17, he went on to fight in three wars. At the age of 19, he had to get a full set of dentures when an underwater mine in the Pacific shattered every last tooth. He survived multiple heart attacks, cancer and God knows what else in his time here. A wonderful husband, father and grandfather, he will be sorely missed.

While his health wasn’t exactly in peak condition in his final years, that phone call was still an enormous shock. I deeply regret not getting to know him further, even though I had known him my entire life. I had plenty of excuses for not visiting or calling, of course. Too much homework, weekend shifts at work, hanging out with friends, you know how it goes.

You never actually think about the fact that those people who have been in your life since you were born won’t be around forever.

College is a time for us to figure out who we are and prepare us for our next step in life. While we mature and slowly discover that adulthood isn’t all that bad after all, other chapters of our life are closing behind us.

Don’t realize this when it’s too late. While homework, jobs and all that hold their own importance, there are some things that simply can’t ever be experienced again. And believe me, when that time comes, you’ll wish you had delayed that assignment or gone out a different weekend. We only have so much time on this rock, after all.

As the great Ferris Bueller once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Kevin Ridder is a senior in environmental studies. He can be tweeted @redinthehead99 or emailed at [email protected]