The Complete Idiot's Guide to Self-Realization: Tim the Incorrigible (Do Not Corrige!)

Today started out as most any other day. I went to work and started to look at some code, logged in to my instant messenger and caught up with some friends. While I was talking with one very good friend from my days in Sarasota, we began to reminisce and fondly recalled memories of people we hadn't seen in a long time. As my mind went down these winding ways, I remembered a friend from my past named Tim Thielen. When I met him, he was 19 years old and was starting at the company I worked for. He was a grade-A kook and I knew we were going to become good friends.

Over the time living in Sarasota, I really got to know him pretty well... so well that at one point Rob and I invited him to come and live with us. Life was never easy for Tim during those times but he took it in stride and always had a way of cheering me up. It wasn't all peaches and cream, mind you. You really get to know someone when you live with them. Ask anyone that's lived with me.... they'll tell you and I won't deny any of it.

At any rate, Tim and I became fast friends. He was the only one that could beat me at Command & Conquer and Red Alert. We would sit and play that for hours on end just enjoying trying to find ways to outsmart the other... a glorified chess game, if you will.

After about a year of living together, Tim left for Orlando while Rob and I remained in Sarasota. During that time, unbeknownst to us, he
had run into financial problems that left him hungry and sometimes homeless. His starvation led to intense weight loss which led to diabetes. When we did reconnect with him and learned about what happened, we were sad but glad to know that he was taking his meds and doing what he could to keep himself going. He wasn't a quitter... even though I remember I time where he was about ready to... he never gave up.

Today, while searching for him, I was startled to find out that he passed away quite suddenly on September 1st of this year. I was stunned, shocked and cried for about 2 hours straight with more tears later as I called mutual friends that I figured had also not heard the sad news. I had lost contact with Tim for some time. I knew that he and another mutual friend, Cheryl, would almost always regularly go to the Oasis convention here in Orlando. I had hoped that I would see them again next year as I plan to attend it for the first time next year. To find out from the internet that a friend of mine, someone I'd shared a part of my life with was no longer around to say, "Hey... I love you." too... it shook me to the core.

After a while, I knew I wasn't going to be able to function at work anymore and asked to leave. On my way home, I saw a big beautiful rainbow in the sky. I started to cry again and said, "Hi TIm... I miss you too, honey."

Tim was 32 when he died. Tim taught me a lot. In his passing he taught me to remember that life is short and precious. Never miss an opportunity to tell someone you love them. Life is both too short AND too long to hold grudges and bad feelings toward one another. Please... if there's someone you love .,.,. or several someones... reach out to them as soon as you can and let them know they are loved.

Tim,

We had a short time together. I never got the chance to say thank you for being in my life. Thank you for challenging me when I needed to be challenged. Thank you for bringing love and laughter into my life in such beautiful abundance. I am forever changed after meeting you, living, loving, laughing and dancing with you. I will see you again someday, I know, and I look forward to that day. Until then... see if you can work out some new techniques at C&C... cuz we're going to play again one day. You are very much loved and missed.

Love Always,
Jenna

Click the link below to see this entry with a few pictures of Tim, and those of us who knew him.

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This was a quick candid shot of Cheryl and Tim on the couch shortly after Rob, Tim and I had moved in. I'm not sure what it was Cheryl was trying to do... but it tickled us all when we saw the picture!