You will be missed Ron

Yesterday at work, paramedics were called. Hardly anyone knew. Only the people who happened to pass by and see...one person told me they thought an impromptu meeting was going on.

Ron Thomason was taken to the hospital. He had lost feelings in his legs, which prompted him to call 911 and security (because we have EMT people on site). I found out because I was going to ask him a question.

It was quite the hub-blub of the day, everyone wondering if Ron was going to be alright. In the back of our minds, we were all quite sure he would be. It couldn't be anything serious.

Turns out it was. Turns out, he had an Aortic Aneurysm. It burst, and his vessel tore. He coded, and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.

I'm sure Ron didn't come into work this morning knowing it would be his last day. I'm sure when he sent me an email at 9:07 AM yesterday morning, that he knew it would be his last. I surely didn't.

How was this file saved?

The test says to open with Wordpad and look at it.

They didn’t do the original save using Wordpad also, or re-save using Wordpad, did they?

We need that first.

Regards,

R.T.

Those were the last words he communicated to me. Benign huh?

Ron was a great co-worker...and I'm not just saying that. He was very passionate and at times could be a bit grumpy. One meeting (one of my first with him), I recall him and a manager having a shouting match because they disagreed. Ron later apologized.

Ron was persistent. Throughout the entire program, he has been asking how this one particular feature would work. Every meeting...he'd ask. I didn't really understand his drift until a week or two ago when development finally said "Yeah, we don't really know..." It was then the wisdom of his question dawned on me and I realized I was missing some things.

Just last week we had an after-meeting-meeting, to discuss some of the on-goings of the program we are working on. He asked me for some info, and I told him I had it already and told him where to find it. He was happy I was so on top of things, and told me he thought I was doing a really great job. He went on to say he was happy I was in charge of the things I was in charge of because he knew they were taken care of and taken care of well.

I can't tell you much about Ron outside of work. I just know him inside of work. My cube-neighbor was very good friends with him though, and has told me that Ron's brother passed away just last January. Their 94-year-old mother, Theo, has now lost both her sons in a matter of 6 months. I just can't imagine her heart break. And I can not imagine the heart break of Lydia, Ron's wife.

My Aunt Irene always says..."It's much better to add to the family than subtract!" I'd have to agree with her. There is a baby boom right now (I think I passed by no less than 7 babies all no more than a week or two old yesterday at the store!)...and I'd much rather chat about how precious all these new little babies are.

Ron - you will be missed. You definitely left a foot print, and I hope it was the foot print you intended. :-)

To everyone else...this is a great reminder to hug your kids today, tell your spouse you love them and be sure enjoy the little things. You just never know when it will be your last.