Strangers, Llamas, and doing the right thing.

Coming to an intersection of hallways at work and turning to walk down another hallway coincidence brought me to walk abreast with a co-worker, whom I had seen but never officially met. We walked a short ways and then we each turned and went our separate ways, each intent on completing our own given tasks. Such is work. We are thrown into an environment where we often walk abreast with strangers and yet we manage to carry out our assignments, mutual cooperation or goals.

I was reminded of a story that a friend sent me about llamas in Montana being herded or grazed with the sheep. Sheep ranchers do this because it apparently serves to protect the sheep. It seems that wolves are afraid of llamas and will leave a sheep herd unmolested when a llama is around. I had never heard that before.

Isn't this what we do in life and work? We work with different people of many different ethnicities and orientations, often times we may never meet these people or even interact but yet our work affects their work and theirs, ours. Life is full of these symbiotic relationships. And when they work they can be great.

New Year's Resolutions

"Seize the Day".

It WAS an incredible wake the other night. (See previous post.) Part of the dealing with the loss was seeing all of his friends and how much of an impact my nephew had on all of their lives. The story goes that when JJ moved out on his own he moved into the house where he grew up. The story is that if you ever needed a place to stay, a dollar or two, JJ was your friend. He never turned anyone away. I never heard a bad story about JJ. But seeing all of his friends...he had a great, full life in his short 31 years.

I have been trying to write my New Year’s resolutions for a couple of weeks now. As you can tell by my earlier posts, I have had to set that aside for the time being. The events of the past two weeks have really hit me. Life is precious. Life is short. And I have been putting things off. I have much to do this weekend.

Part of the reason I have so much to do is because I feel that I have wasted my time. I read a book a few years back that stated that we are all here for a reason. Some people's reasons may be very simple, some may be complex. But we all impact each other's lives. The author stated that a homeless person on a street may be fulfilling their life's duty by serving as an example to some and a conduit of charity for others. We may never know what our purpose is but we must always live right. (I kind of wonder about that, but I get her point).

I have wasted my time. I languish in front of the TV each night and basically go brain dead. I gel, I melt into my easy chair and waste away. I think the brevity and fullness of my nephew's life serves as an example to me to get out there and do something. So I am going to try to be a better person. I said try. We shall see. I will try to read more and I will try to write more. We shall see.

Thank you,
D.

A tribute. Who'll be there to take the body home?

My nephew died on Monday, Jan. 5, 2009. He was 31 years old. We sat around the dinner table on Jan. 6th and told stories about him. It was very illuminating. When he was starting Kindergarten at age 5, my sister-in-law made sure he was ready for school, got him dressed, made his lunch and then packed him and his younger brother off to the bus stop. She waited and made sure that he made it on the bus ok. Then she packed the little brother into the car and drove to the school to watch her first born son walk into his first day of school. What a wonderful mom. After school she gathered her youngest son and went to the bus stop to meet JJ. When he got off the bus, he looked at her sternly and said, "This I do by myself", and he proceeded to walk home. He looked back to make sure that she was not following him. He wanted to do it by himself. He was his own man. 

He did things his own way. JJ worked at a popular dive bar in San Diego. He closed up shop on Sunday night.  JJ had been in a lot of pain. But JJ was wearing pain patches to ward off the pain from the injuries suffered in an SUV vs Pedestrian automobile accident 5 years ago. JJ was the pedestrian, on a skateboard.  JJ spent 5 months in a rehab hospital, unable to speak because of the tracheotomy tube in his throat. JJ closed the bar that he loved. I am told he had a great night. I am told that he closed up the bar. 

Somewhere between clean up and go home time JJ succumbed to the pain. The official cause listed is an accidental overdose of pain medication. He wore too many patches. He died alone in the bar early Monday morning of January 5, 2009. His best friend found his body in the morning. Tears were shed. Calls were made. The Medical Examiner came. Investigated. JJ died alone in the early morning hours. By the time his body was removed to a mortuary there were nearly two hundred of his friends outside to say goodbye. 

 JJ's memorial service was this past Monday, Jan. 12, 2009. The church was filled with his family and friends. His mother spoke. JJ was always there for his friends. If you needed a place to stay, go to JJ's. If you needed a dollar or two, go see JJ. He was a kind-hearted soul. His motto was "I may not be here for a long time but I am here for a good time". After the memorial service at the church, every one went over to his mom and stepdad's house for a true Irish wake. It was beautiful to see all of JJ's friends stop by to pay their respects. I will never forget it. The guest book had over 3oo signatures, some of them from families. The estimates were that there were 600 people at the church. He sure had an affect on people. He will be greatly missed. I apologize for not writing this earlier.

 Uncle D.