In Memoriam - Marc

One of my favorite photos ever!
Juris, me and Marc.
April 1990

Today's date, Feb 12th, is a date I will remember forever.

Marc passed away on this date 5 years ago.

When they say only the good die young, they were talking about Marc.

I met Marc when I was 11 years old. He was 12.

My neighbour, Linda was going to a movie at the Dorval

Theater with a bunch of friends and she let me tag along.

That day was the day I met most of the people I would

spend time with outside of school, for the next 6 years.

Summers were spent at Ballantyne Pool and at the Baseball Diamond.

In the mornings, Marc and Glenn would play Golf, while the

girls would go meet up at the Arcade.

Come 1:00pm we all congregated to the Pool.

The evenings were spent again at the pool.

Adult swim from 8pm-9pm or perhaps a Swim Meet

or Water Polo game.

If not at the pool, we were at a Ball Diamond.

Winters were a bit different.

Marc went to Loyola and I went to Lachine High, whereas the

rest of our friends went to school together at Dorval High/John XXIII.

Our winter weekends were spent at the Arena.

Public Skating, Figure Skating and of course Hockey!

This was before cell phones and social media. It was a simpler

time where you'd go somewhere and you
knew all your friends would be there.

It would happen about once a month during High School.

Marc would take a different route home that passed by my school.

I'd be waiting for the 90 Bus and I'd hear him call my name.
We'd ride and talk. This was the only time we'd talk about school.

He'd ask me about my grades. He'd say how important

it was to do well and to study hard.

We'd part ways at the Dorval Terminal, he'd take the 203, I'd take the 191.

As time went on and we all grew up, summer jobs kept us all

intertwined but socially, we no longer hung around in groups of 20!

My first summer as a Lifeguard was spent at Surrey Pool.

Marc was a Maintenance Man and would come by every now and then

to tend the soccer field out back before a game.

I took this and a few other photos of Marc that day.

The summer after this one was, I'd say, the last one where we were young and free.
Life took over after that. School, work, relationships.

My life was forever changed when I was 19 and I moved with my family
from Dorval to Mississauga, Ontario. To this day, I miss Dorval.

My good friend Nathalie, the sweetheart amazing lady she is,
arranged a surprise going away party for me.
She called up some of my old friends and gave me a send off I cherish.
She'd just moved in with her beloved Bob and he had some friends there too.
I've obscured their faces out of respect & because I don't know their names.

I was so moved that these folks came to a party for me.
I was gobsmacked when I walked through her door and saw:
Juris
Marc & Isabelle
Terry
Ken
Noelle
Karen
Steph 
Lisa
and Kim.
Kim is another lovely lady who passed away too long ago.
Oddly, Kim and Marc both grew up on Claude Ave.

Whenever I went back to Dorval for a visit, I would
often bump into Marc and it was great.
A kiss on each cheek, a hug and a smile made the trip worthwhile :)

The years went on and I made it back home less and less.
I still find out through friends who's doing what, who's getting married,
who just had another child, so I still do feel connected to Dorval.

I had heard that Marc was ill but knew few details.
A while later I'd heard some more details and was devastated.
I wrote a letter to Marc. It was difficult because we were
friends in our youth and hadn't seen each other for years.
He was now a man, a husband and a father.
It was so important for me to let him know the impact he had on me. 
The memories I hold dear of our friendship and time together.

I came home from work one day and in my mailbox was a card
 from Marc, written by Isabelle.
It was so unexpected, so lovely.
I read it and re-read it.
 I turned on my computer to check my e-mail
and had received a message from Glenn advising of Marc's passing.
I went from a high to a real real low.

I was actually going through my own health issue at the time.
I'd had pneumonia and the result of my chest x-ray
was concerning.  I was scheduled for a CT-Scan.
When I went for the results, the Doctor started our dialogue
by letting me know that Non- Hodgkin's Lymphoma has a lower
mortality rate than other cancers.

Marc's memorial service was after my CT-Scan results conversation
with my doctor and before my scheduled biopsy procedure.
Thankfully it wasn't Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma,
but Sarcoidosis of the lymph nodes & lungs.
Not life threatening, just a chronic hindrance

Thankfully one of Marc's brothers created a site honoring Marc.

They posted Juris' Eulogy. 
It is beautiful and heart breaking.
I've read and re-read it a few times since, every time the tears flow.

It is such a tribute to the Marc I remember.
Even as a teenager, he always chose the right.
He was always kind, never cruel.
In a very unspoken and most likely unintentional way, he held you to his standards.
He was funny but also serious.
And how so many who knew him, described him: genuine.

I think of Marc often, still.  At the oddest times.
Sometimes for a reason and other times for no reason at all.
I wish I'd known the adult Marc, because it
certainly was an honor to know the young man Marc.

I've tried explaining to Adam just how lucky I was when I was young
to know such good people.  So much that when I moved to Ontario, I thought
all the men I'd met didn't match up to the male friends I had growing up.
It took me a long time to find Adam, who is also a man of quality.

I will say that Marc, and a few others - Juris, Dave, Nathalie, Matt,
and pretty much every person in the above group shot (whose face
I haven't mucked up) are people of extremely high quality that I am so lucky
and grateful to have spent time with.

Today I am again reminded how lucky I am
and I've said a little prayer for an old friend.