It’s Been 365 Days Since Rob Died

Not to be crass but any day that doesn’t start out with a dead body in my house is already great. Warning: This may trigger some people as I am not holding back.

A year ago today, it was a Thursday, I woke up annoyed. My housemate and friend’s alarm clock was going off at 5:30 am. Rob Cioffi ran Joke Zoom, an online comedy writers workshop that attracted people from all over the globe. On Thursdays, it started at 6:00 am so he got up at 5:30 to get everything ready and to get himself ready. I know when I need to do something that early, it’s not before coffee.

So I was not in the best mood as I walked down the hall to wake him up and shut that annoying sound off. While Rob had been not all that well, I was nowhere near prepared for what happened next. I expected he was sleeping through the alarm (who hasn’t done that?) because I spoke to him the night before and had gotten home late. I had taken my mom to see Spamalot in the city.

Rob wasn’t in his bed but lying on the floor. I ran for my phone and called 911. I knew he was dead. I don’t remember if he was cold. I do think his eyes were open but I could be misremembering. I am sure I was in shock. The EMT told me to do CPR, which I took a class on a thousand years before in high…