Well, it had been about five days or so since I had last logged on to E2 and when I did so this morning I was shocked to see the number of messages in my inbox.
At first, I thought I had did something to offend the masses and was going to be the target of vitriol from all of my fellow users. I got to wondering about what I might have said or did to elicit such a response but then as I began reading the text of the messages I was amazed at the content.
No, these were not words of incrimination or insult; they were words of condolence and sympathy. I immediately thought to myself about what I might have done to warrant such an outpouring of grief.
And then I came across this.
I’m guessing that most of those who chose to respond and either know or met me in real life and were familiar with my past history of health/heart related problems just glanced at the headline and were so moved to tears that they felt the need to respond without reading the entire article. I’m guessing word spread like wildfire after that and the avalanche of responses took on a life of its own.
Fear not fellow users and readers, I’m still alive and kicking but there are some things I’d like to clarify before we move on.
First of all, it’s a weird kinda feeling seeing your own name as the subject of somebody else’s obituary. I don’t know how to describe it but after reading of my namesake’s lifetime of accomplishments and successes a sort of envious feeling came over me. As evidenced by the comments of his family and contemporaries this man lived what appeared to be an honest and good life and I found myself making comparisons to what I’d achieved and sadly, found myself a bit lacking. I guess we might all do that during periods of introspection.
What really got my spine tingling though was the last few lines of the article. I won’t repeat it here but if you feel so inclined feel free to go back and read them.
I hope that when my time finally does come, my kid will be able to say that about me.
In the long run, I guess that’s all that really matters.
I just wanted to close by saying thanks for all the love and kind thoughts over the years and I plan on sticking around for awhile to come.
borgo
Note: My inbox wasn’t really flooded but I just thought it would make a good lead in to what I wanted to say.