Stand Proud

It was never my intention to make this a post on The Brand Chef. A sudden turn of events made me reconsider.

A friend – no, really, a guy I’ve met a handful of times – died yesterday. While driving to see his mother in a rural area of Iowa, he had a heart attack and crashed his car.

I always admired Ray. From what I could tell, he was a good man. He was infectious and passionate. He spent true, quality-time with his family. He gave back to his community – so much so that they elected him Mayor. He raised what I consider to be great children (My daughter goes to school with his daughter, and his son is a leader in professional football). But, with all his goodness, all that generosity yet to give, God decided it was Ray’s time to leave.

I’m shocked and saddened.

So, this is how I choose to deal with the passing of someone I’d wished was a closer friend. This is how I choose to deal with my own mortality.

I wrote this Thursday night, before Ray’s death, but with the intention to give to my father. I never did.

Stand Proud

Stand proud my father. Stand proud.
Bring the past with you – leave it at the door,
For, with me, the past has gone.

Step up and walk with me, father. Walk.
Ease your mind. Soften your brow.
Breathe easy and talk.

Keep your eyes high, father. Look ahead.
Raise your thoughts, your gaze your spirit,
For your work is done and done.

Take my hand, father – hold tight.
Let me guide you,
As father and son like when we were young.

Stand proud my father. Stand proud.
Bring our past with you – for all to see.
For from here, we start again. We start anew.

I’m going to read it to him tonight.

There are lessons here, but I’ll let you figure them out this time.

Keep Cooking! (to strengthen connections to those that matter)
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

Ray, you’ll be missed.

2/2/10 – I didn’t call my dad and read the poem to him. I chickened out. But this morning, I emailed him this link. At least the door has been opened.

TheBrandChef Recommends

Here's My Five Minute Tutorial on Getting Ranked On YouTube! (Chad Nicely)
What Can You Do With Craigslist? (Chad Nicely)

Tags: Family, loss, personal, poem, poetry, relationship

This entry was posted on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 3:51 pm and is filed under Family, relationship . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Stand Proud”

Jared Moyer Says:
February 1st, 2010 at 9:39 pm
Miss you Uncle Ray… We love you and will always remember you. Rest in peace.
Andrew Says:
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:33 am
Thank you, Jared. God bless.
Tweets that mention Stand Proud | The Brand Chef -- Topsy.com Says:
February 5th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Andrew B. Clark, Andrew B. Clark, Andrew B. Clark, Andrew B. Clark, Sheena Lara and others. Sheena Lara said: This made me tear up. RT @TheBrandChef: New blog post: Stand Proud http://thebrandchef.com/2010/02/stand-proud/ [...]