today i sat quietly- prayerful and tearful- in a room full of dennis’ friends and family as he breathed his last… and passed peacefully from this life into the next. it was both painful and reassuring- painful to hear the anguished cries of loved ones, painful to see a friend who was young and full of life decimated by cancer, painful to know i should have been a better friend… but also reassuring to know that dennis is no longer suffering, reassuring to see community come together around a friend who blessed our lives, and most of all, reassuring to remember that death is not the end for dennis.
in the presence of god, fully restored, dennis can now enjoy new life the way it was intended- free from a frail and broken body, and overwhelmed with the intimate embrace of his savior and creator. meanwhile, as we mourn his loss and grieve his passing, i take comfort in knowing that dennis is once again himself- the loud-laughing, fast-driving, swing-dancing, 3-point-making, slow-jam-listening, late-night-studying, fast-food-consuming, video-game-winning, system-beating, up-for-anything, loyal-to-a-fault, faithful friend he always was.
rest in peace, my brother. you will be missed. but i will see you again.
Amen. Amen.
Posted by e cho | December 12, 2006, 1:49 pmword.
Posted by gar | December 13, 2006, 12:50 amwell i just found out by reading Stone’s myspace blog, then after not quite digesting what I read, I switched over to here and now it finally hit me what has happened. Dennis had some wonderful friends like you, David. It was a pleasure just to know him, be his neighbor, and learn from his example. thank God for making all of that possible. yeah I’m very sad reading all of this, but I’m comforted in knowing that there will be another time, and not in this dimension.
“Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” —Psalm 30:5
Posted by David Wu | December 26, 2006, 10:38 pm