Weekend in AZ - Random Thoughts
I am back from my whirlwind 48 hour, door to door, weekend in Arizona. I flew out on Friday afternoon after running 15 miles with Marcy, Jan, and Brad. I got to my folks house and had a wonderful home cooked meal.
I got up on Saturday morning about 6AM Phoenix time and wanted to get some running in. I did a little 2 mile out and back near where I grew up. I actually ran on a strip of road that we used to walk every day to and from High School. It brought back some good memories. I wanted to get out and back so I could visit more with my Dad before he left to play tennis. The weather was really dry, 7% humidity, and cool in the AM. I got really thirsty about 2 miles in and that's why I cut the run really short. I am happy I got some miles in.
Stats - 4 Miles/33:02/8:15 pace.
After another wonderful meal for breakfast, I loaded up, said goodbye to Mom and headed to the viewing before the funeral started. I was driving along thinking about what I would say to Kaylene, my friends's wife, and listening to my favorite Phoenix country station. I got the idea to request Garth Brooks' "The Dance" and dedicate it to Jon, but I couldn't remember the request line number so I let the thought slip. Just as I pulled into the church parking lot, The Dance came on the radio. Needless to say, my heart skipped a beat and I was overcome with some serious emotions. I will take it as a goodbye from Jon. I composed myself and headed into the church where I waited in line to say hi to Kaylene and their daughters and say goodbye to Jon. Kaylene thanked me for coming and we shared a beautiful hug and a few tears. I said hello to their daughters and then spent a few moments with Jon. He looked good and at peace...his pain no longer with him. I saw a few old friends from my days at Insight and headed into the ceremony.
I won't go into detail about the ceremony, but it was very moving and evoked many emotions from laughter to tears. Family and friends spoke about Jon and it was really nice. The one thing that I want to share about this is that Jon had some great personal traits that if we all had, would make the world a better place. Although he fought Hodgkin's Lymphoma for 13 years, he never said "why me?" or complained about it. He put others first. He always asked about you...and didn't bitch about the cards he was dealt. He wanted to know about your family, work, hobbies...he was so interested in my running and how I changed my lifestyle. That was important to him. He lived life to the fullest...not afraid to experience new things or put off things until tomorrow. He didn't waste energy on the small stuff. He said he didn't have time to deal with it. I know I am going to try and live by some of what he showed the world.
After the ceremony we met at the farm of the family that founded Insight, the Crown family. It was a very nice place and I was able to visit with almost the whole team I worked with at Insight in 1996. It was great to see Bridget, Hoffy, Custer, Tad, DeTota, and a bunch of other folks I worked with. I hung for about an hour and then headed to Tucson.
I hit my brother's house and we headed to the Sausage Deli, a wonderful sandwich shop I used to frequent when I was in college. I got my usual Turkey/Swiss/Lettuce on a sub roll, but got the spicy mustard instead of the mayo I got in college. I downed a couple of beers and we headed over to the campus. We did some browsing at the bookstores and then grabbed a few more beers at little pizza place. We headed over to the game and saw Arizona look like garbage against Washington. I had to remind myself that we are a "basketball" school. :) We got back around 11PM and I had to get to bed so I could get up at 3AM to drive back to Phoenix to catch my 6:30AM flight. I slept most of the way on my two flights and was totally drained both emotionally and physically. It was a whirlwind weekend with many highs and lows...a most memorable weekend!
Closing:
Seeing a friend a year younger than you in a coffin really makes you think about your own mortality. After digesting my weekend here are my words of wisdon: Tell your loved ones you love them; do things today and not tomorrow; stop and smell the roses; work to live, not live to work; put others before yourself; and last, but not least, as Tim McGraw says, Live Like You Were Dying.
Rest in Peace Jon...
I got up on Saturday morning about 6AM Phoenix time and wanted to get some running in. I did a little 2 mile out and back near where I grew up. I actually ran on a strip of road that we used to walk every day to and from High School. It brought back some good memories. I wanted to get out and back so I could visit more with my Dad before he left to play tennis. The weather was really dry, 7% humidity, and cool in the AM. I got really thirsty about 2 miles in and that's why I cut the run really short. I am happy I got some miles in.
Stats - 4 Miles/33:02/8:15 pace.
After another wonderful meal for breakfast, I loaded up, said goodbye to Mom and headed to the viewing before the funeral started. I was driving along thinking about what I would say to Kaylene, my friends's wife, and listening to my favorite Phoenix country station. I got the idea to request Garth Brooks' "The Dance" and dedicate it to Jon, but I couldn't remember the request line number so I let the thought slip. Just as I pulled into the church parking lot, The Dance came on the radio. Needless to say, my heart skipped a beat and I was overcome with some serious emotions. I will take it as a goodbye from Jon. I composed myself and headed into the church where I waited in line to say hi to Kaylene and their daughters and say goodbye to Jon. Kaylene thanked me for coming and we shared a beautiful hug and a few tears. I said hello to their daughters and then spent a few moments with Jon. He looked good and at peace...his pain no longer with him. I saw a few old friends from my days at Insight and headed into the ceremony.
I won't go into detail about the ceremony, but it was very moving and evoked many emotions from laughter to tears. Family and friends spoke about Jon and it was really nice. The one thing that I want to share about this is that Jon had some great personal traits that if we all had, would make the world a better place. Although he fought Hodgkin's Lymphoma for 13 years, he never said "why me?" or complained about it. He put others first. He always asked about you...and didn't bitch about the cards he was dealt. He wanted to know about your family, work, hobbies...he was so interested in my running and how I changed my lifestyle. That was important to him. He lived life to the fullest...not afraid to experience new things or put off things until tomorrow. He didn't waste energy on the small stuff. He said he didn't have time to deal with it. I know I am going to try and live by some of what he showed the world.
After the ceremony we met at the farm of the family that founded Insight, the Crown family. It was a very nice place and I was able to visit with almost the whole team I worked with at Insight in 1996. It was great to see Bridget, Hoffy, Custer, Tad, DeTota, and a bunch of other folks I worked with. I hung for about an hour and then headed to Tucson.
I hit my brother's house and we headed to the Sausage Deli, a wonderful sandwich shop I used to frequent when I was in college. I got my usual Turkey/Swiss/Lettuce on a sub roll, but got the spicy mustard instead of the mayo I got in college. I downed a couple of beers and we headed over to the campus. We did some browsing at the bookstores and then grabbed a few more beers at little pizza place. We headed over to the game and saw Arizona look like garbage against Washington. I had to remind myself that we are a "basketball" school. :) We got back around 11PM and I had to get to bed so I could get up at 3AM to drive back to Phoenix to catch my 6:30AM flight. I slept most of the way on my two flights and was totally drained both emotionally and physically. It was a whirlwind weekend with many highs and lows...a most memorable weekend!
Closing:
Seeing a friend a year younger than you in a coffin really makes you think about your own mortality. After digesting my weekend here are my words of wisdon: Tell your loved ones you love them; do things today and not tomorrow; stop and smell the roses; work to live, not live to work; put others before yourself; and last, but not least, as Tim McGraw says, Live Like You Were Dying.
Rest in Peace Jon...
posted by Paco at 5:34 PM
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