This morning, I woke up early.
The baby was crying, and needed to eat. I did what I always do…I opened up my phone,
and scrolled through Facebook. And the
first thing I saw was the thing that, although I knew was coming, had been
dreading just the same.
My dear friend, Ron, had finally been released from his
ongoing battle with cancer.
I met Ron in 2009, and worked with him until we made our way
from Maryland to Colorado on a PCS. When
we moved back to Maryland, Ron was one of the small group of friends I was
excited to see again. As trite as
retrospect can be, I wish I’d seen him more.
Because Ron taught me things. He
reminded me of things I already knew, and he reinforced things I try to
practice in my day to day life.
I learned a lot of things from him…like how important it is
to have someone’s back, even when you want to stab them in it. Ron was a consistent open door, even when it
would have been easier to close it. He
stood against the masses when the masses were wrong, even when the weight of
those masses seemed like they should have been crushing.
Ron did not judge.
Rather, he hugged. He
laughed. He smiled. When doing things for himself would have been
the easiest route, Ron took the hard route so that he could bring someone who
needed help on the same journey. It didn't
even matter what the journey was, really…it was just common knowledge that Ron
would extend his hand and heart and offer you a firm grip on both.
He’d been living with the disease for quite some time. It was rough, and it was agonizing. He allowed us into it. He never hid his pain, or masked his
difficulties. Rather, he opened it all
to us and drenched it in a such a positive way that it made us adore and admire the hell
out of him even more.
There are so many admirable qualities that Ron reminded me were
important to keep a hold of. And because
I was lucky enough to have him in my life for a little while, I will work a
little harder every day to keep those qualities from falling by the wayside of
everyday life.
The Army is not an easy way to live. It’s easy to lose track, to get too busy. It’s easy to become inundated with the day to
day. At home, at work…there are so many
ways to become enveloped in our own lives and forget the importance of those we
hold dear.
Thank you, Ron Kyle, for being a part of my life and the
lives of so many others.
Your presence will be missed. But your wonderful, kind, funny, thoughtful
and jiggy ways will not. Because they
will continue, my friend.
We love you.
But then, you know that.
