There have been many tributes to Riverside guitarist Piotr Grudziński. I am doing one on my radio show. But since his sudden passing on Sunday, I don’t even think about the music side of things. I’ve been thinking about his wife, his family and friends.

His wife has had to face the worst tragedy imaginable, the death of her husband. My wife and I are very much each other’s worlds, so I could not imagine losing her so suddenly. In fact, Piotr’s passing has made death very real for me and I am sure for many people.

We’ve lost many famous people lately. David Bowie, who seemed to die suddenly, was in fact living with cancer for a while. This is different. Piotr was a young man still at 40. He had many people in his life who loved him and I am not counting all of the Riverside fans. He was a real person who had people that cared deeply for him.

The real tragedy is that he died suddenly without any warning. The void that someone leaves behind can be massive. They say time heals all wounds but I don’t believe that at all. When you are left to carry on after someone so dear to you has passed away, the pain is blinding. You are never the same.

My hope is that this reminds us all that death is for the living. We pick up the pieces and try to live but it’s a new path and not one we ever truly considered before. We should embrace the path of life we are on now and cherish it like we never have before. Because it will change.