Just like that...

Yes.  I'm still on the planet.  I'm one of the lucky ones.  Life is going on & I am thankful... even though I am still reeling from the events of last week.

I've thought about what to say here... how to say it... but no real solution has come to mind.  Besides 

dreamtigress , I am not sure who comes to visit this collection of spewing thoughts & baloney.

 

What happened?  Just like *that* my life has changed again; that's what.  Just like *that* someone I knew & admired is dead.  The big difference is that this time I was there.  Just like *that* a person was joking one moment & dead the next.  And it was just like *that*.

Last Tuesday - May 24 - was a Tuesday much like any other...  the hustle & bustle of the business, folks trying to gear towards a holiday weekend, a meeting at 2 pm.  Folks straggled into the meeting & I went to fetch them.  One of those who I fetched was Alan.  Alan insisted on making a fresh pot of coffee before heading into the meeting & I gave him some special coffee that I had brought in to brew.

We bounced into the meeting joking - Alan leading the jokes & the rest of us chiming in.  In a split second the jokes turned to coughing.  In another few seconds Alan is falling on the floor & we know this is not a joke.  Four of us rushed to his aid.  After accessing his condition, no one seemed to want to make the call to begin CPR ~ so I made it.  Let's start CPR NOW!  I had already called for the first aid kit & made sure 911 had been notifed.

Another co-worker & I start CPR - she did the pumping; I did the breathing.  No response.  Someone is cradling Alan's head, talking to him, calling to him, pleading with him to stay with us.  No response.  The fourth person is helping reassessing Alan's condition & making sure help is on the way.  No response.  Pumping... breathing... pleading... he's turning blue on us.  No response.

The rescue squad rushed in - we knew to back off quickly to let them take over.  We told them quickly what happened.  There was not much to tell.  They worked on him until the ambulance came.  Alan's wife was called; I end up on the phone with her.  She thinks this is some sort joke he is playing on her.  I wish it was.

Within an hour the call comes... Alan could not be resuscitated.  He is dead.  We were joking an hour ago!  He is dead.

Alan, was the finance officer of my company, but was really much more than just that, both to the company & to his co-workers.  Alan the prankster... the one who bounced soccer balls off of people's rumps; the one who stuck his finger into someone's coffee when they least expected; the conservative Republican who mused at my being a registered Democrat unmercilessly; the guy who called Brian "the Giant"; the one who approached me about becoming something more with the company; the guy whose caustic wit I came to adore.  Alan was 41 years old.

Alan leaves behind a young wife & 2 small children, ages 2 & 7.  I hope they find solace one day in that Alan was taken so quickly he may not have known what hit him & that he died laughing & surrounded by folks who cared about him a great deal.

This event shaped the rest of my week...  calls on behalf of the young widow, a very somber office, co-workers coming in a steady stream to my office, a closed plant on Friday for the funeral. 

The president of the company has called our efforts heroic.  I am having a hard time with that.  I just tried to help a friend.