Memorial Album

My son's friend Patrick died unexpectedly last week in an unfortunate accident.

Patrick was a member of the same robotics team as my son.  For four years, I was the business and public relations mentor for this team.

So, after word of Patrick's death spread, I began contacting other parents and the alumni of the team.  We were dedicated to the thought of putting together a Memorial Album for him, rehashing the years he spent on the robotics team.

So, over the past week, we have gone through the painful process of tracking down pictures from the four years he was on the team.

We met yesterday, and we assembled a quick album.  We chose one of those albums where you slide the pictures into the album- 5 pictures to a page.

We also had printed out excerpts from e-mails that he had sent out over the course of his Senior Year.

It's a beautiful album, that chronicles the short history of a life well lived, and over far too soon.

We are waiting for the final piece.  We have alumni coming in for the Memorial Service next weekend.  They are going to write funny stories and memories on cards, and we are going to stick those into the album.

The thing I've found over the course of doing this?  This album has been incredibly closing in bringing closure to those of us who are working on it.  The work of tracking down the pictures, meeting up with old friends we haven't seen since graduation, and the process of crying it out has helped to bring the entire sad adventure into focus for us, the adults.  The young people have all had a chance to track down their adults from their high school years.  We've tried to help them put things in perspective, but what we've found is that the kids are doing a better job of helping us cope with this than vice versa.

I am still saddened beyond all reason.  I realize that I've gone through 3 of the stages of grief.  I believe I'm currently going through anger... I'd rather not talk about it, but I believe I had made a pretty big ass of myself.  I'm going to have to apologize to a few people in a couple of weeks.

Life is short.  Hug your family, hug them tight.