Not long after news about Brittany Murphy's death at age 32 broke Sunday, one of my oldest friends, a recovering alcoholic, posted this update to his Facebook page: "I got sober at 32. She died at 32. And the reason those story lines aren't reversed is: chance."

The final word on what caused the young actress's untimely end may not be known for several weeks. Some are blaming the copious supply of prescription drugs that was found in her home, while preliminary reports suggest that she died of "natural causes." Murphy had reportedly been "very ill," exhibiting flu-like symptoms for days leading up to her death, and when she was found on Sunday, there was vomit throughout her bedroom.

There is speculation that she died from a combination of of type-2 diabetes, a thyroid condition, and asthma. Despite this host of ailments, the actress recently claimed that she never took drugs, and couldn't even handle Sudafed without her heart exploding. Caffeine, she said, was her only vice.

Murphy's acting career was full of promise, and her nascent roles show a rapid evolution in her ability to embody radically different characters. It's because of that talent that the media are so consumed by her passing, as it was with Michael Jackson's, Heath Ledger's, and the countless other stars who have fallen to addiction and early death.

It may have been that host of illnesses that killed Murphy, it may have been drugs, or it may have been a fluke. Maybe, like Ryan Shay, the elite American runner who dropped dead at mile 5 of the Olympic Trials Marathon in 2007, her heart just stopped beating. Whatever the cause, Murphy's death gives us pause, for now, to think about our own lives, and the choices we make. I'm sure that my friend would tell you that such a pause is what helps him choose, every day, not to drink.

[Image: Esquire.com]