Today, mortality has a face. And it’s fighting with gut wrenching punches right to the kidney. You ever meet a person and you know that just by their sheer will, they will be something huge, touch someone unexplainable… change lives? I met such a person about 4 years ago.
I was walking into what happened to be the only call I’d received in more than two months for an interview after dropping resumes literally everywhere. He was the bartender, letting me know he saw me before I even had a chance to take in my unfamiliar surroundings. This would be the first real job interview I’d ever had, one I didn’t already have an “in”. His smile, so genuine, made me feel like he really had been there all day waiting for just me. I sat down and he immediately began to carry a conversation with me that made me feel like we had known each other for years.
I got that job and had the privilege, honor and pleasure of getting to know this amazing person. He had a unique ability to make everyone feel like they belonged. You immediately relaxed a little when near him and his fascination with being a jokster was enough to make anyone’s bad day smile. He worked harder and cared more, with less return or investment than anyone. He taught me that caring enough was enough if you were just patient enough. He was committed, loyal, trustworthy and trusting, and strong. Alex, today someone took it upon themselves to make a decision that wasn’t theirs to make, leaving those that need you unsure of how to even begin to look at tomorrow.
Mortality is usually a foreign feeling, a far reached thing that I know I never look at, but today am forced to. My life was changed when you came into it, and yet again now, today when you left it. You will be missed.