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UH_OH_5_OH
09/25/2006, 06:15 PM
Well folks I just got back this morning from my nephew's memorial service in Washington, D.C. Apparently after his grandmother died he was deeply affected by all of the goings on and sat down with my brother and his mom and told them what he wanted done at his death. Cremation, no flowers just plants so they wouldn't dry up and die and remind his parents of death and no one was allowed to show up in black....he wanted it to be a celebration of his life not a depressing time thinking about his death. There wasn't enough room for everyone in the chapel...I would guess about 500 people showed up to pay their respects.

Check this out; last year he had gone to Beijing, China to study martial arts with Shaolin Priests at a Shaolin Temple....like David Carradine...Oh Grasshopper fame....orange wraps and shaved heads and such. Oh so then the next day we are the house and all of these tough looking body guard dudes show up and speak with my brother and he get his wife and daughter and they clear everyone out of the living room and in walks Kofi Annon (sp?) !

Yeah like the Head of the UN Kofi ! So I'm all; holy crap Kofi ! ! ! Shouldn't you be busy stickin it to Iran right now....? Anyway; General Colin Powell and former Secretary of State Madeline Albright also showed up as did several other people that I will need to watch CNN to recall their names right now. So I guess my nephew met all of these when he interned at the UN and made such an impression on them that they wanted to come and express their sympathies to his parents. Pretty impressive stuff.

Anyway, his memorial servce was awesome....as he had also given explicit instructions that their should be NO CRYING...! So to help this out....people told ALOT of funny stories about him. His girlfriend told of a time when they had been out on a date and he suddenly stopped the car...rolled up the windows...locked
the doors and promptly FARTED ! ! ! and wouldn't let her out of the car....! Yeah he was nice like that ! ! !

Anyway we had a great time and yes we all ended up crying and laughing anyway ! He was a wonderful young man !

And thank you again for all of your condolensces to the initial announcement that I posted.

dc
09/25/2006, 06:33 PM
Sounds like he was quite a remarkable young man and effected many people. Truly a tragedy that his time on earth was cut short. My condolences to you and his family.

crp
09/25/2006, 06:33 PM
He must have been a wonderful young man for so many to show up to show their respects. I'm glad you were able to honor his wishes and laugh at stories.

Again, my condolences for your loss.

Criminal#58369
09/25/2006, 06:57 PM
My condolences to you and his family, he must have been a well respected person for all those people to care about him.

Nina51
09/25/2006, 07:01 PM
it sounds like a truly lovely service. obviously, he thought a lot of his family to want them to be able to be lighthearted at such a tragic time. my sympathy to you and his family.

kfisc
09/25/2006, 07:17 PM
Thanks for sharing- again very sorry for your family's loss. It sounds like it was the world's loss, too!

BrianD
09/25/2006, 08:43 PM
He sounds like he was a great guy. The world will miss him. I am sorry you and your family had to endure this.

Ritten
09/25/2006, 09:55 PM
May he rest in peace and you and yours celebrate his life while grieving his loss.

petoonia
09/26/2006, 12:19 AM
I am so sorry for your families loss. He sounds like he was an amazing person!

Laura Senchuk
09/26/2006, 08:44 AM
What a legacy. One of my favorite movie lines comes to mind..

"Remember my sentimental friend, it's not how much you love but how much you are loved by others." (The wizard to the tinman)

Sounds like he was very loved.

UH_OH_5_OH
09/26/2006, 10:02 PM
Once again, thank you all very much for your kind words. And yes it was a wonderful time to celebrate his short life. It was amazing to me to see not just the number of people that spoke but WHAT they had to say about him and how their lives had been changed by their relationship with him.

There was a grandfather that Mike Jr. had convinced, okay nagged, into taking martial arts with his 8 yr old grandson and he was just a tearful mess when he said that this 54 yr old man had been so dramatically affected by a 23 yr old. It was really very touching.