So, a friend of mine died last week. His funeral was today...and it's left me in a strange sort of mood. I must be upset, because I've been incredibly hungry all day.
It's strange. I don't think that it has all settled in yet. Ray was a remarkable man. He was truly an inspiration. He was a vital, 46 year old man in a wheelchair...who let nothing hold him back. He could do anything - I honestly believe that. He was the first person who I had ever met who was confined to a wheelchair and, instead of becoming weaker, became stronger. After an accident that changed his entire life, he only changed for the better. He was always a gentleman, always respectable, 100% genuine, and always was trying to help someone - not to mention extremely independent. :O) He was the first person who I had met in this office that actually gave a damn about what happened to people when they left this building. Hell, he was the first person here that I actually liked. And, every Thursday, like clockwork, he would deliver the new edition of the Chico News & Review to my desk...and we would talk about the cover story and get all political and then laugh. I'm going to miss that.
Anyways, last Wednesday, he was jazzed. He was going to go home from work and pick up his new electric wheelchair. He was so excited, he just couldn't contain it. He truly glowed all day. That evening, he took his wheelchair out for a spin down a trail that leads to some ponds and, apparently, got too close to the edge of an embankment. His body was found the following evening.
It is so tragic that this happened to such a vibrant human being. He had so much life left in him. It just makes it a little bit easier to think that he was happy right up until the moment that he died. And, God willing, everything happened so fast that he didn't have time to realize what was going on. Like his daughter said on the cover of his Funeral Program - he's probably in heaven playing poker with God right now. It's just so hard to see such a good man go...
It's going to be a long time before things are normal around this office. He affected so many lives...even clients cried. I guess it just makes you aware of how short life really is.
vette
It's strange. I don't think that it has all settled in yet. Ray was a remarkable man. He was truly an inspiration. He was a vital, 46 year old man in a wheelchair...who let nothing hold him back. He could do anything - I honestly believe that. He was the first person who I had ever met who was confined to a wheelchair and, instead of becoming weaker, became stronger. After an accident that changed his entire life, he only changed for the better. He was always a gentleman, always respectable, 100% genuine, and always was trying to help someone - not to mention extremely independent. :O) He was the first person who I had met in this office that actually gave a damn about what happened to people when they left this building. Hell, he was the first person here that I actually liked. And, every Thursday, like clockwork, he would deliver the new edition of the Chico News & Review to my desk...and we would talk about the cover story and get all political and then laugh. I'm going to miss that.
Anyways, last Wednesday, he was jazzed. He was going to go home from work and pick up his new electric wheelchair. He was so excited, he just couldn't contain it. He truly glowed all day. That evening, he took his wheelchair out for a spin down a trail that leads to some ponds and, apparently, got too close to the edge of an embankment. His body was found the following evening.
It is so tragic that this happened to such a vibrant human being. He had so much life left in him. It just makes it a little bit easier to think that he was happy right up until the moment that he died. And, God willing, everything happened so fast that he didn't have time to realize what was going on. Like his daughter said on the cover of his Funeral Program - he's probably in heaven playing poker with God right now. It's just so hard to see such a good man go...
It's going to be a long time before things are normal around this office. He affected so many lives...even clients cried. I guess it just makes you aware of how short life really is.
vette
direct from mrs. hamacek's brain at
2:47 PM
0 Thoughts:
Post a Comment
<< Home