My Friend

Patrick Roy Kramer, May 6, 1977-October 22, 2006

All Things Will Die - Lord Alfred Tennyson

Clearly the blue river chimes in its flowing
Under my eye;
Warmly and broadly the south winds are blowing
Over the sky.
One after another the white clouds are fleeting;
Every heart this May morning in joyance is beating
Full merrily;
Yet all things must die.
The stream will cease to flow;
The wind will cease to blow;
The clouds will cease to fleet;
The heart will cease to beat;
For all things must die.
All things must die.
Spring will come never more.
O, vanity!
Death waits at the door.
See! our friends are all forsaking
The wine and the merrymaking.
We are call’d–we must go.
Laid low, very low,
In the dark we must lie.
The merry glees are still;
The voice of the bird
Shall no more be heard,
Nor the wind on the hill.
O, misery!
Hark! death is calling
While I speak to ye,
The jaw is falling,
The red cheek paling,
The strong limbs failing;
Ice with the warm blood mixing;
The eyeballs fixing.
Nine times goes the passing bell:
Ye merry souls, farewell.
The old earth
Had a birth,
As all men know,
Long ago.
And the old earth must die.
So let the warm winds range,
And the blue wave beat the shore;
For even and morn
Ye will never see
Thro’ eternity.
All things were born.
Ye will come never more,
For all things must die.

Two Years

It was two years ago today that my good friend, Patrick, died in a car accident. He was a police officer responding to the scene of an accident when he lost control of his patrol vehicle on the ice. It flipped and crushed him. He died on scene almost instantly.

Patrick was perhaps the nicest person I have ever known. It sounds like such a cliche, but he truly went out of his way to help people even when it inconvenienced him. We shared a love of fantasy books and role-playing. I have many fond memories of gaming with him and discussing the books we so loved. It's still hard sometimes to realize that he is gone. His name is still in my email address book and so many little things spark memories of him, not the least of which is his daughter, my niece, Alexis.

I had dinner with his parents and sister tonight, as well as my sister, Shawna, and Alexis. We had a good time sharing memories and just being together. I admit I got teary when I looked through the scrap book his mother put together for the trip they took to Washington D.C. for the Fallen Officer's Memorial Service.

Patrick, you were too good for this crummy world. Peace be with you in your new life. I think about you all of the time and I promise I will do everything I can to help look out for your daughter. It's certainly the least I can do for a friend.

Star Trek Luminaries

I mentioned the passing of Alexander Courage recently. Geekdad also pays tribute to him and to two other people who were important to the development of the original series, Joseph Pevny and Robert H. Justman.

UPDATE: Here is a link to a .wav file of the awesome theme that Courage wrote.