Nov 4 was a big day for me, so I am going to have 2 posts. In 2006, Randall Hollis, a co-worker, passed away suddenly. We were all shocked and upset by his loss. Randall was his own indvidiual, unique in many ways. Not long after his death, George and Jill, 2 of his co-workers, came to me with the idea of planting a tree in Randall's memory.
I took the idea to management and got
approved. I collected money from co-workers, retirees and others who had worked with Randall. It turned out to be harder than I thought it would be for me emotionally to finish the task. I had to make myself do each step. It probably didn't mix well with my own depression. I guess I should mention the really bizarre way we, I, found out that Randall had died. One Monday afternoon, I stopped by the animal shelter to see of there might be a friend for my dog, Blue. As I walked by the counter, an animal control officer and worker were talking about AAFES. I stopped and said I work there, could I help. They told me they were so upset, they had to pick up an animal at a house where a man had passed away. They needed to find the man's next of kin. I asked what his name was and it was my friend Randall. Monday had been Randall's regular day off, so no one had missed him yet. Randall was buried at the DFW National Ceremony; I kept a weekly vigil until his marker was placed to make sure it was completed. I had a hard time making myself buy the tree and marker. Then the tree was planted and I had another hard time pulling together the event.
But the building staff picked a great location for the tree. It is on the path to the entrance to the building that most of the IT staff uses. They have recently installed no smoking picnic tables in the area. Randall loved to eat, and cake was his favorite. I should say FREE cake was his favorite. He would attend every reception and retirement in the building, whether he knew the people or not. So it was an absolutely necessity to have cake. We had a great turnout from the IT staff. Someone grabbed one of the first pieces of cut cake and placed it under Randall's marker. Everyone agreed it was the right thing to do. I am sure that all the other AAFES staff that passed a piece of cake under the tree yesterday, thought it was pretty weird. I put some captions identifying people I knew. If you donated money, thanks. I'm glad it is finished. Some of the photos were taken by Mike Santy, Toni Martin and Lyndie Blevins