Goodbye, Ray

Ray died today.

Ray was "da man" on campus in high school. I remember a scrawny bespectacled goof in elementary school who the next year came back muscled-up and the center of the school universe. We never had one class together, which isn't unusual in a class of 500+, and I didn't go to the same parties and hangouts he did. We travelled in separate universes.

Still, in all the years of hearing all the rumors of all the guys and their jerky behavior, I can truly say I never heard one bad word uttered about Ray. You couldn't catch him being a jerk, even if you were looking.

I discovered this spring that we were in the same Bible study class at church. Small world. I re-introduced myself and he asked me if I was going to the reunion. Reunion? What reunion? Nobody told me about any reunion! But Ray made a point to inform me, forward my e-mail to the organizers, and encourage me to go. He didn't know me at all, and still was that nice.

He had the most annoying habit of typing in all caps on the board, probably due to Blackberry issues. We teased him mercilessly about that, as well as his habit of answering e-mail posts with posts in the open forum. He'd have this cryptic one-sided conversation going on and we'd roll, because it looked like a form of Typing Tourettes.

He teased the other guys on the message board about joining him for a triathlon. One had to have surgery and couldn't go, one was recovering from surgery and wasn't well enough yet. He wanted to get the old gang together and compete again, though he talked as if her were an old man who was creaky and out of shape. I think that was him being gracious. He was in fine shape. He just didn't want the other guys to skip the event thinking they couldn't do it. He wanted to see them try.

He died running that race, of a heart attack.

He had turned 39 on the 15th.

He leaves a wife and two girls under twelve.

And the hearts of all who knew him.

God Bless, Ray; you're Home now.