Monday, January 2, 2017

Today, I lost a Colleague and Friend - And the Universe Gained a Bright Light

Today, I lost my friend to cancer.

Today, a person I admired went to be with God.

Today, a courageous, brilliant, funny and loving man stopped being in pain.

Today, the universe gained a positive energy force that gleams ever brightly.

The mix of feelings one experiences when learning a friend has passed away makes you reflect on whether it was a life well-lived or not.  In this case, it was!  My friend was ever hopeful, outliving two death sentences, not just one, to see his beloved family grow.  His one heartfelt wish was to see his daughter marry -- he danced at her wedding -- and then to meet his grandson.  His love for his family was legendary.  While ill, he cared for his wife who also was fighting cancer.  During his initial treatments, he bolstered his family and friends with humorous accounts of his cancer treatments and after-effects.  He shared his tender thoughts freely, allowing us to share this journey with him.  When those treatments failed to save him, he spent his fleeting energy on his family.  Every one of them knows how much he loved them.  It was not only not a secret, but he shouted this from the mountain tops!  His family was everything to him.

I knew him from work, where I came to welcome his optimism, great whit and ability to find something funny in almost any situation.  He was also a dependable and credible technician upon whom I could rely for guidance.  He confided to me about his illness and how difficult it was to keep working while going through those horrific treatments.  He was disheartened by the lack of compassion he received from his supervisor, whom I don't think ever met him in person.  Yet, he continued to apply his dwindling energy to completing work assignments.  He was a man of his word, and working gave him a much needed distraction in a time before he met the love of his life, his grandson!

I'm writing this to acknowledge his beautiful life, of which I only had a glimpse.  That small view filled me with great happiness and warmth.  I can only image how it felt to be a close member of his family or a close friend.  And, how much his family and friends will miss him in their lives from this time on...

Thank you for sharing that incredible brightness with me!  I am honored.