The blessing and curse of time:

I read recently a post that concerned keeping LinkedIn, as "business only"...as a heads up this positing is not going to help you secure your servers or protect your passwords. It might however put a few things into perspective.

Today a good friend of mine passed away, I don't know how long we have known each other, or how we first came to meet...all I remember is that whenever we got together time herself took a back seat, the world was put on pause, and we enjoyed each others company for as long as our schedules allowed. There are a number of photos and images dotted over the Internet with he and I facing off and comparing beard lengths, there's even one news channel that grabbed a shot of him sporting a red goatee and me with the blue one out in Vegas…back in 2011 or 2012 ish...that one image got used almost as much as the one featuring poor Bessie from GrrCon.

He knew his time was running out, we had met last year in a city for dinner after a conference and just took time to relax, hang out and enjoy each others company. We spent time just talking, very briefly we touched on the subject of his lack of time, but mostly we just caught up on everything else in the world...and it was good.

We caught up for the last time at a conference, it took all his strength to make it there and to put in an appearance, to guest DJ and just be with the extended family that this industry and community has. Everyone made sure that he knew he was loved and that we all cared for him....

A number of us found out recently that he'd been given less time than previously expected...imaging being told you have 4-8 weeks left at most, and that's it…nothing more, no appeal, no extension, no time in reserve. I can't begin to think how I would handle it. Many of us started to make plans to see him, however less than a week into that first bombshell he's gone from us...just gone, we got the warning, we got the deadline, the notice...but someone, somewhere else had other plans for him, and apparently they decided it was time for him to call it quits on this plane of existence. We can't argue or wring our hands in anguish as we all knew this day would come...but dammit it came to fast, it came too quickly and it does not seem fair that once again someone with that much positive life energy is taken so soon.

He leave behind a legacy of memories and moments in time that will be treasured by many of us in this community, I do feel honored to have been a part of some of those.

I guess this is where it does (ish) tie into work.... I am grateful that in this industry I have chosen to make my home work and life do blend together...we have a family of friends that extends beyond our corporate boundaries, beyond the country that I call home...and on sporadic basis we see each other, typically at conferences or passing’s through airports, countries or cities... The family is not perfect, it is not all roses, and it can be dysfunctional and harsh at times, but there are those in the family who I count as friends and whom I try to keep in contact with.

We need to make the time, take the time, borrow it from other focuses to actually recognize those people who are around us, who influence us and who are part of that family...even if it is just to remember to send them a "hi" or "hug" on Twitter, LinkedIn or E-Mail, or a catch up at the coffee shop in whatever city we are traveling through.

We need to appreciate what time we have with those around us as opposed to simply taking it for granted.

So the next time you are sitting on a plane or at the airport or hotel...and are about to launch yourself at your computer to send more work related Email, spreadsheets or reports to people...take 10 minutes to yourself and just send out a couple of "HUGS!" or "Thinking of you" to people who have been a part of your work family.

The next time you are sitting in a hotel in a city you're stuck in for the evening get together with a friend and have dinner...take it from me, it might be the one stand-out moment of that relationship you remember long past they have left us.

 In memory of Rance, thank you my Brother.

#WeLoveYouRance