Ray B.
Today is Ray B's memorial service. I have known him for so long. I met him my first week at Impax. He and I bonded over our love of equipment and he shared much of his knowledge with me over the past seven years. Changing companies was like losing a father. When I came back, he was one of the first people to greet me, telling me that he thought he noticed I was gone for a while. When I came back, they gave me the desk right across from his. Every morning he would complain to me about his stomach. One day, Josie and I were talking at my desk. I said how my stomach had been bothering me lately. He quietly snuck out that morning and went to McDonald's and bought me a strawberry milkshake to make me feel better. When I first made homemade beer, I gave him some. When he tried it, he said it was the best beer he'd ever had. I have all these memories of him, all of them good. I am more than aware of the fact that the longer I survive, the more people I know will die. I've seen people die from the time I was old enough to remember it. We're so fragile, and all it takes is one little thing and we're gone. I hate that I can't see him anymore. I will go to the memorial today and try not to cry, though I probably will.