His name was Jesus and his family and friends called him “Chuy”. I remember when he first started, I asked him what I should call him and he said he didn’t care. I told him he wasn’t hairy enough to be a “Chuy” for me because all I thought of was Star Wars. He laughed and said I hadn’t seen him without his shirt! So I started calling him “Seuss”. It just seemed right.
The
Seuss I first met was a quiet, reserved man.
The Seuss I came to know and call my friend was so much more.
I feel so lucky to have had the pleasure of working with him for 2 ½
years.
Our
friendship really became much stronger in the last year or so.
Seuss didn’t fully open up to you until he felt comfortable.
I’m happy to say we got to that point.
However, I feel terribly robbed. I
didn’t have nearly enough time with him.
No one did.
Within
the first few months, I knew that Seuss was going to be my salvation.
I was right – he was. I
could trust him with any task and not worry about getting it done.
He and I worked so well together. His
calmness was balanced out my “blondeness”.
If he caught a mistake of mine – he’d tell me and I’d claim “a
momentary lapse of blondeness”. He
would always smile and laugh and say, “Don’t worry - sometimes I’m blonde
too.” If I forgot to do
something, I’d call him up and ask him and his response was always the same
– “Don’t worry – I got it”.
I
have so many wonderful memories of him – it’s hard to say them all.
All the many lunches we shared, the meetings, the training sessions.
When we traveled to Ohio, we would have so much fun together.
I know it was those trips that brought us so much closer.
The town was very small and there was never anything to do, so we’d
talk. Then we’d talk some more. Then
some after that!
He
was incredibly dedicated to his “Boy”.
He LOVED to talk about his son J. He’d
tell me all the tales of J’s baby and toddler experiences and they were always
said with such pride. He talked
about V and how their relationship just “worked” so great for both of them.
He’d tell me about his friends and how he was when he was younger.
We’d share our “younger days of hell-raising” stories and we’d
see who won! He talked about his
family, especially his mom, his brothers & his sister.
He
was good. I know that seems a strange adjective to describe him, but
that’s what he was – Good.
What
impressed me so much about him was his even-keeled nature.
He never got roused and when he came to me upset or angry about something
– I’d know it was serious. He
took nothing lightly, but wasn’t the kind to ever raise a fuss.
I’d get frazzled about something and he’d look at me and tell me
“Shake it off…don’t let it get to you”.
I
wish I could describe to you how much I’ll miss him.
I’m going to miss his “Morning”.
I’m going to miss the way he repeated tasks aloud in the office –
“LABELS! – POSTING!”. I’m going to miss our lunches and dinners.
I’m going to miss making decisions with him about the way the office
should run. I’m going to miss our
trips together. I’m going to miss
him razzing me about the Cubs. I’m
going to miss hearing about J growing up and the pleasure he took in that. I’m going to miss him telling me “Look at those
Clowns”. But I know that most of
all I’m going to miss his smile.
He will always have a special place in my heart. I’ll carry his memory with me forever and I will never forget that I had an incredible friend and co-worker that I called Seuss.