On Wednesday, I was informed of the passing of our classmate and friend, Gary Large. To be honest, it has hit me very hard. When I thought of the ultimate Clintwood fan, I thought of Gary. When I thought of politics and dedication, I thought of Gary. For short, my mind has not been off Gary since I got my first e-mail from Jennifer telling me he was sick. Now I wish I had one last chance to tell him how much he meant to me. I won't have that chance.
My prayers and condolences go out to Asa and Lula, his brothers and sisters and the rest of his family. Prayers go out to his extended family, those of us who stayed close and those of us who renewed and rekindled those relationships after years of inactivity. It hit me while writing this post, just what Gary means to me. I hope you can relate. Here is something I wrote:
The Ultimate Human Being
He was the ultimate fan.
He was the cheerleader at the game.
He was the cheerleader in life.
He was the child who came back to take care of his parents.
He was a loving sibling, uncle, cousin and extended family member.
He was my classmate.
He was my friend.
He was the cheerleader not for the big play,
He was the cheerleader for EVERY play.
He worked tirelessly to see us all come together.
He was so happy to see the fruits of his labor.
He was looking forward to our next gathering.
He has now gathered at an even greater gathering.
One where he will once again cheer, yell and scream,
Released from his bounds and chains of sickness,
Cheering his family, classmates, his teammates to keep up the fight.
The game is not over. There's no time to quit. In his death, it appears at first to be defeat.
But our dear friend has finally won the battle and taken hold of the trophy.
Now he's cheering us on to keep on with the battle.
Our friend, Our classmate. Our member of family.
I already miss your energy and excitement. Your love of life.
The game is not over. Rest In Peace Gary.
The game has just begun.
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Thursday, March 19, 2009
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