Paul Piziks, June 27, 1970-April 14, 2023

 My brother Paul Piziks died yesterday. It was the worst kind of shock. He was the youngest, and he went first, even before our mom. The world isn't supposed to work this way. I'm functioning on fumes. I never knew I could cry so much.

Paul was famous for his outside-the-box creativity and his sharp, sardonic sense of humor. He loved doing standup comedy, and was brilliant at it. He and I were strangely at odds with our jobs--he worked at some point in nearly every facet of advertising, and I work hard to inoculate my students against ads. But Paul was always happy to give me insider information about how the advertising industry works.

I feel like I should write more about him, but the bond runs so deep that it's difficult to put into words. One of my earliest memories is of my parents bringing him home from the hospital. He and my sister Bethany Piziks and I were a trio, and we have so many shared memories and experiences that no one else in the world can understand. Now only two of us are left.

He was alive Friday. His funeral is Wednesday. I'm sure he'd have a devastatingly witty joke about this, but right now, it's just devastating.

comments