Clark.
- Kelly Kennedy
- Oct 14, 2018
- 3 min read
Recently, a friend of mine from high school and college, passed away. His passing, since we were the same age, and especially given the circumstances, is heartbreaking and hard to process. Leaving a young family behind, as well as two on the way; it is a sucker punch to the gut for anyone with a heart.
And yet, he loved and was loved. He lived life fully in a way that is inspiring. In the last year, he experienced extreme adversity through a health issue and needed to have his limbs amputated, and even when it might cross anyone's mind to give up, like yes, yes, I have had enough - he persevered and found ways to inject joy into a different life and a "new normal". Now I have been out of touch with him for a while, but through the wonders of Facebook I have been able to see how his humor and spirit were unbroken, and how he made the world a better place by making it lighter for those around him. He always had.
That's how I remember him; always a smile, more often than not, a goofball. Sunday nights, our friends would head over to Ian's to watch wrestling on pay-per-view. He was so North Penn, all of our friends were - integrated into class government, sports, and all that kind of stuff. We went to our senior prom together - we decided to go as friends. He was the class secretary, so I remember having to hug everyone in the greeting line with him as they entered (awkward for a variety of reasons at a high school dance, as one can imagine, but he had a smile on the whole time). I wish I remembered all of the details - part of me thinks he may have liked me and it was more like friends on my end. I was a little all over the place on the relationship front, and remember break ups with Jon and Jared somewhere in there the spring of my senior year. So it's hard for me to remember, but I wish I did. It seems like the kind of thing he would do - be a good friend, be there for me. I don't know, but I hope I didn't hurt him. And most importantly, I wish I had kept in better touch with him after College. Hearing all of the stories from everyone at the memorial, it was evident that he continued to build on the kind, fun-loving boy I knew, to become a wonderful and remarkable man - the kind of person you would hope that you are to others, a tremendous human being, a caring and devoted partner and parent, someone that cultivates positivity even in the face of extreme adversity.
For my friend, he dealt with tragedy head on, and still chose to push for triumph. A great example for us all.
Here are some of the stories from the past year - if you have a moment, please watch:
Thank you for reading this. Clark inspires me to be a better person, to embrace what I have, and to try and make the world around me a better place by the way I treat people. I hope you also take a piece of that with you, and I encourage you to consider donating to the fund set up to support his family through these difficult times, or even to the foundation set up in his name.
In our senior year, Green Day and their song Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) was one of the most popular ... and these words seem an extremely apt way to close. Play it in the background as you scroll through these pictures...
Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go So make the best of this test, and don't ask why It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right I hope you had the time of your life
So take the photographs, and still-frames in your mind Hang them on a shelf in good health and good time Tattoo's of memories and dead skin on trial For what it's worth, it was worth all the while It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right I hope you had the time of your life
It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right I hope you had the time of your life It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right I hope you had the time of your life
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