Comfort and Peace

I can't say if we were friends. Coworkers, definitely. Friendly in the most platonic way. Maybe acquaintances is a better term. He was always nice, telling everyone they were doing a good job. In certain environments, that kind of thing is a rare gem. He was the first to volunteer to help, constantly working, and knew how to make you laugh.
Was.
I found out today that a man who used to work with me OD-ed. He didn't make it.
They tell us not to get attached to these guys, and I wonder if this is why. The place where I work is a sort of annex to an ARC (Adult Rehabilitation Center). It's like a department store. Beneficiaries (guys in the ARC's program) all have what is called work therapy. They each hold a job involving the store, whether it is working there or making deliveries on the store's behalf. Work therapy teaches them responsibility, so that when they get back to the Big Bad World, they have some basic experience in a work environment and can be depended on.
A lot of beneficiaries come through the store, switched out like batteries until they complete the program or are discharged for breaking the rules (no cell phones, no drinking/drugs, no stealing, to name a few). But this was a good guy. From what I understand, he didn't complete the program, but was clean when he voluntarily left. He had a good job and was doing very well. And then this morning... I heard the news. They tell us not to get attached to these guys, switched out like batteries as they are. Guys come and go in the store so frequently it sometimes doesn't benefit to talk to them. I know how bad that sounds, but with a new face or two every other week, I can barely keep up. But now... will I see their faces, or will I be looking at a count-down? All of these guys cannot be destined to fall off the wagon. They cannot be like hourglasses, sand falling too fast through the funnel until none is left to fall. I cannot bear to think of them that way, not for the sake of one beneficiary. I wonder if he's in Heaven as I type this. I don't know how he was in his spiritual walk, but I can only pray that his path was straight. I hope his family will have comfort and peace, eventually. I hope they will be all right.

-Grace