…many hours spent remembering this date, which was Thanksgiving Day back sixteen years ago in 1996…a day of great sorrow, because I lost this:
Erik, #60
This photo is dated Aug. 31, 1990…six years and about 3 months before the unthinkable, the unbelievable happened on black ice at mile marker 100 near the town of Legnica, Poland.
One minute, a vibrant, brilliant mechanical design engineer, redesigning pollution control systems in Poland, and Beijing, China, and about to do the same in Italy…the next minute brought instant death, a head on collision with a German tanker truck.
Sixteen years, and though I’ve done many things (and almost died twice, myself) in all this time, the tragedy and loss remain fresh….
*********
LATE #1
All was very pale
in the dark that night
I saw a chin and a nose
every time I closed my eyes
I could not see your face
but I knew it was yours
as you lay on the ground
:dead:
In Poland
.
*********
LATE #2
Life
Reduced to paperwork
Files and accounts
.
It is still difficult to believe
You are no longer here
To joke and laugh
And do your Mike Tyson imitation
.
Copyright 1997 http://www.anotherthousandwords.wordpress.com
I don’t know what to say to you – except had I met Erik I am sure he would have been a very good friend – I am so sorry for your loss.
I’m certain of that, Jx! He was a good friend to many, both wealthy and poor…because he (and I!) had known both ways. He appreciated this world, this great planet, and believe it or not, was trying to find a way to harness the power of earthquakes and turn it into something useful! I’m not sure how it could be done, be it certainly is a provoking thought, yes?
His old brother has also left us in 2000, at 34 yrs, so I guess I really did have what they call “Rent-a-kids”…they were here for only a short time, but both did a lot of good for their fellow man…of that I am so very proud!
For me it was the 2nd of May 1986, he was on his way to his parents, where I was waiting for him. It was a Friday night, and he was on his way there for his 21st birthday part the following day, he was turning 21 on the Sunday. He had just finished his apprenticeship as an electrician, and life was looking good. He was travelling to, and a good friend of mine was going back to where he had come from, they collided head on. He was a on motorbike, she in a car, she survived, he did not. Somethings you never forget.
Some things, like these, should never be forgotten…I am so sorry you had to experience this also…it can tear a person apart, unless they are very strong…but it hurts, always, doesn’t it?
Yes, it is, it has been a long time for me, but I still worry like crazy when some one I love is not home when they say they should be, I begin to panic and can’t help thinking the worse. It never goes away. I am strong, or so I have been told, though you just go one day at a time.
One day at a time is how I’ve made it through…not just this trgedy, but many others in my life! Right now, I’m just very happy to be alive…and to have found faraway friends like you!
I know what you mean.
Sorry to know, though, that we have something like that in common, too….but, we are strong women, and I believe we could both get through just about anything, right?
I think when you get through something like that, you know you could survive anything. I don’t know of anything that would destroy me now. Though almost losing my daughter this year, might have done it.
I pray you ALL keep well, healthy and happy, Leanne…and have a great holiday season, just filled to the brim with JOY!
You too, ours will be so much better than last year and we are looking forward to it.Thank you so much, I am glad we met.
Me, too…this is so great!
I am sorry for your loss.
Thank you, Barbara…some may say it’s been so long…but it never seems to feel that way for me. I don’t want to be morose, just not lose this memory of a wonderful human being, who just happened to be my own child.
Thinking of you. I lost my brother suddenly just one year and one day after your photo was taken. He was 30. He was interstate and called my Mum and told he would leave the next morning to travel to their house (1400kms) and to say Happy Father’s Day to Dad as he wouldn’t make it until the day after. But he died on Father’s Day. It’s been so hard for Mum and Dad.
So very sad to hear this, dear Lancer…and please accept my thoughts and prayers…and convey this also to your Mum and Dad, that there is a “mum” here in the States that understands.
I am so very very sorry. I have typed and deleted about 20 other messages… there is nothing my words can say, no pain or sorrow they can take away. But I so wish they could. ~ Lily
Thank you so, Lily…you just brought a few tears welling up. This time of year should not be so painful, but, unfortunately, I cannot forget him!