Unexpectedly

I have had a couple of ideas ruminating in my head for new blog ideas.  This blog is not about any of those ideas.  Never would I have imagined writing about what I'm going to write about today, at least not for another 40 or 50 years.  My wife received a phone call this morning telling us that her cousin Tim Kopka had passed away unexpectedly from a massive heart attack.  To say this was a shock or unexpected would be the largest of understatements one could make.  Tim was in his 40's and had become in recent years a workout fanatic.  But this is not why I write about him today.

I am probably the last person to share about Tim as I know there are 100's and 1000's of others who knew him far better than I ever had the chance.  We probably met in person no more than a handful of times over our lifetime.  Each time we met, there was an instant connection.  There was an understanding, a love of life that we shared in a unique way.  Now as much as I'd like to believe that we had something special in our friendship, I am quite confident that there are many who would say the same thing from their meetings with Tim.  He connected and made you feel valued immediately without judgment or condition.  My experience was not a unique one.  Words can't explain some of the intangible qualities that Tim had but know that his heart for life, family and friends was special and though his life was cut far short of what we expected his impact on people's lives far exceeded that of his short life.

We first met at Heidi and Mark Tooley's wedding if I remember correctly.  Being someone who dreads large group gatherings and celebrations I must admit I went to this event with a poor attitude.  When the weekend ended it was one of the highlight weekends of my life.  Tim and his brother Paul along with the other cousins and various relatives laughed so hard throughout the weekend that my jaws hurt for a week.  This was the beginning of significant sharing, both fun and personal, over the years.  Most of our sharing happened via Facebook or email or an occasional phone call.  I think Tim was one of the two or three people who actually read my blogs when I was a regular writer.  We shared some deep thoughts together over those blogs as we both struggled to find God's calling for our lives and our search was painful at times.  That is probably not how people remember Tim and certainly not Tim and me together.  We laughed - A LOT - when we were together.  I literally could have spent hour upon hour with him and never tired of the humor or the deeper conversations that we shared.

As I stated earlier, I know there are many who knew Tim far better and far longer.  I could go on and on about the laughs and thoughts that were shared though our time was short.  Tim became the first and to this date only investor in our alpaca farm.  We had the chance to come together a few months ago for my father-in-law's funeral (Tim's uncle).  Per our usual times together the conversations flowed easily.  Part of our discussion was about the alpaca farm my wife and I were starting and we even went to visit the critters.  A conversation about being investors in the alpaca farm must have occurred because lo and behold a couple of months later I received a letter with a check in it for $55.  Tim had remembered that our alpacas cost us $5500 and wanted to buy a 1/100th share of our enterprise.  His note was hilarious and he told us to invest it or take Gertraude (mother-in-law for me, aunt for Tim) out for a beer.  I laughed out loud for awhile upon opening this letter drawing the curiosity of my wife.  We talked via phone after that and shared the laughter about this.  That was Tim - he found a way to make us laugh and more importantly he listened and knew exactly what was said.  Tim lived life the way it was meant to be lived - HE LAUGHED OFTEN, LOVED DEEPLY AND SHARED FREELY.

Tim tried many times to get me together with him to go mountain biking and drink beer.  I do neither of these activities but would have just to be able to spend more time with this fine man.  Tim - save a mountain bike ride for me in heaven and I'll even drink a beer with you afterwards.  I can tell you this, I am more ready for heaven now than ever because I know there are many laughs and great conversations waiting.  Heaven just became a more fun reality thanks to God's newest angel. I'm going to go for a bike ride now and then a beer, in memory of Tim.