Let me tell you a story. Last fall, my brother found out a long-time friend of his had died right before Thanksgiving. So Thanksgiving was a sad time for him and he's been mourning his friend these past months. 1/

Fast forward to a few weeks ago and my brother tells me that someone tried to call him from his dead friend's phone number around 2am. He didn't answer because a phone call that late from that number freaked him out. (I totally would have answered) 2/

Then, last week, someone whose name I didn't recognize tried to friend me on FB. Their profile was blank & our only mutual was my brother. So I asked him who it was--it was someone impersonating the friend of his who'd passed away. 3/

Yesterday, my brother says to me, "Soooo...about my friend who died. It turns out he's not dead. He's alive!!!" 4/

This friend had suffered a head injury & was thought to be brain dead so his brother freaked out and started telling people he was dead (don't do that, okay?) Including an ex-girlfriend, who is the one who told my brother he was dead. 5/

So with all of the weird occurrences, my brother decides to reach out to this woman who told him their friend was dead and say, "Hey, here's what's happening, isn't that weird?" 6/

And she says, "Oh yeah, HE'S NOT DEAD. That was a mistake."

But she never told my brother, who she'd originally informed of friend's death, of his resurrection.

She forgot to share some EXTREMELY IMPORTANT information (don't do this either). 7/

So his friend, who was dead, is actually very much alive & was the one calling my brother & friending me on Facebook. Because he's not dead. Because he didn't die. 8/

In summary, when you tell someone a friend has died and then you find out they're really alive, please make sure you follow up to share that news too.

Or, you know, just don't kill off your relatives prematurely. /end