Isn't It Funny, and Sad Too?

John always said that'd he'd die young. He said that he'd been gambling with the devil for too long already. Between his hang gliding, deep sea diving, mountain running and karate, something would get him. I mean, he was pretty healthy, especially so in fact. By no means would he suffer a stroke, or heart failure, or lung cancer which affects so many people these days. He walked on the wild side. Took gambles which weren't required. Admittedly they usually went well for him. Not just risks with extreme sports, but his life in general. It's like he had a cove of four leaf clovers in his garden fueling his life.
I remember, just before the recession struck, he took all his money out of his bank account and invested in his friend's hand sanitizer business. We laughed at him, called him barmy, until the banks crashed. After that we were all equals, until Swine Flu struck of course. John was laughing! He was a multimillionaire, but he didn't let it get to his head, no, he plushed up the apartment, but still continued driving his 2004 Mondeo.
I remember John's sense of adventure, it was so appealing! When we met, we were assisting in an emergency response to an earthquake, not Haiti, but somewhere in the near vicinity. I had been shipped out there, treating the wounded and providing relief wherever I could. I remember the moment, it's crystal clear in my mind. He saw me, and within seconds of locking eyes, his startling blue eyes, he asked me if I was free to accompany him on a walk.
I chuckled and explained how we were in the middle of helping these people, but we kept contact, and soon found out we both resided close enough to Chicago.
Our first date,   we decided to skip the whole dinner and drinks cliché and instead white water rafting. It ended up we got stuck on an island in the middle of the rapids. We talked so much, for those four hours, I had never felt closer to someone.
We he proposed, we were on the summit of Kilimanjaro. His exact words were, 'I've...