Day 108

The Monday after Damian died, Lakeview held an emergency meeting with the middle school and upper school students and faculties. Both Dawn and I had a strong need to be at the school and help the kids get through this so early that morning we trundled off to school. When we  arrived, there were lots of tears and hugs. I also had many people ask me if there is anything I, or we, needed. My answer in the moment was always this: "If you have any stories of Damian that you would like to share with us, please write them down. We would love to read them." And I meant it. I really did want to hear their memories of Damian.

For the last couple of months I've been sitting on a folder full of Damian stories. Dawn encouraged me to read them not long after they were first given to us. I don't know why I didn't, but I finally got around to reading some of them tonight. And they did not disappoint. Some of the stories are funny; some are more a recollection of their perception of Damian – what he was like, how he treated them. What puts a smile on face and tear in my eye is the consistency in the words used to describe him: fun, funny, gentle, loyal. 

Damian was one of the most kind, funny, and caring people I knew. I would always see him laughing in the halls and he always had a smile on his face. I am so sorry that this has happened to such a kind soul. 

Sincerely,  

Grey 


I remember all these things about him, too, Grey. It's nice to know that others saw this in him as well. 

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Beisner

I am very sorry for your loss. It is affecting everybody because we all knew and loved Damian so much. 

I remember when Damian came here, I think it was 7th grade, he was always hosting these contests. One time he hosted a quiet contest for $20. Now let me first tell you that I am the complete opposite of quiet. I didn't talk the entire day and I got sent to the office in Spanish class for ignoring our teacher. I had to write on a piece of paper that I am in a quiet contest and give it to the principal. She told me I was ridiculous and made me talk. I begged Damian to not disqualify me and after 20 minutes he finally agreed! I won the $20 and it made my entire week (honestly more because I still remember it). I have no idea where Damian got all this money because he gave away like $100 in 2 weeks. 

Again, I am very sorry for your loss. 

Love, 

Shay 

This Damian story made me laugh (out loud). And for the record, Shay, I too would like to know where Damian got this money. Mrs. Beisner might have some explaining to do...


 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 84

Back home in Georgia. No problems getting here, but things got a little tense between Dawn and I.  I was anxious going to the airport in Tucson because we left later than I would have preferred. Our flight was scheduled to leave just before 3PM, but we didn't leave the house until 1:15. What I didn't know until we were on our way is that it was going to take nearly 40 minutes to get to the airport. It was nearly 2 by the time we there. Fortunately it took almost no time to get our bags checked and through security, but they were close to boarding our flight by the time we got to the gate. Because of all the anxiety I had about getting there on time, I was pretty keyed up by this point. My anxiety led to a miscommunication between Dawn and I as we looked for a place to get a sandwich to take with us on the plane. She thought I took off on her; I thought she wanted to go to another place because she didn't want a sandwich. After a couple of curt exchanges, we both apologized ...
Read more

Day 642

Full disclosure: In social settings, people avoid me. They don’t want to make eye contact with me, nor do they want to talk to me. I’m not approachable. The thing that sucks (for me) is I have no idea why this is.  I went to two corporate dinners this week. On both occasions I felt like an outcast. Conversations were going on all around me but I wasn’t part of any of them. Not really. Heads were turned away from me. At no point did anyone turn to ask me a question or make eye contact to welcome me to the group.  I’ve been in other group social situations where I am talking to someone, 1 on 1, and another person will come up and initiate a conversation with the person I’m already talking to with zero acknowledgement of me or the conversation that I was already having with that person. Rude yes, but also demoralizing.  This is killing my self-esteem. It makes me want to retreat into myself and go live a life of solitude. My reason being that if there is no one else around, ...
Read more

Day 639

I feel really sad today. So much so that I’m cracking open my blog for the first time in forever and writing another post.  It’s been a long time. Too long, in fact. I think I hit a point where I got burned out on writing. Or maybe it was trying to come up with something fresh to say. I don’t know what it was exactly. It just followed the same trajectory as almost everything I’ve ever done in my life - I started out with lots of dedication and persistence only to see it wither and die because I lost interest.  I’m not sure what I’m interested in anymore. Watching TV is thing I do most. Although I have picked up my (acoustic) guitar again. (Let’s see how long that lasts! I’ll be surprised if I’m still playing it by the end of the year. Color me cynical.) Is my lack of interest in life a manifestation of grief or is it something else? Today, I just feel completely tapped out. Like, what’s the point? It’s mostly all just meaningless.  The few areas of my psyche that are not ...
Read more