On Friday night, I had to be at the Brick Alley right after work at MEGA Brands…well, I got there around 5:15 (I know, I am a steller employee!!). When I got there, I clocked in, went and joked around with the kitchen guys (they shot me in the arm with an air soft gun…) and then ordered my dinner.
I sat down to wait for my meal to cook when I noticed one of those GIANT greeting/get well cards on the table behind me. I looked at it, had no idea what it was for. It said “we are thinking about you” in big, bubbly, mulitcolored letters and numerous people signed it. I started to read the statements on the card and realized they were all addressed to John. I asked the girl I was working with if it was a joke or something and her jaw dropped and said ” oh my god, no one called you?”
She told me the story about how John, a 24 year old college graduate like myself (a worker at the Brick Alley and I am 100% positive he was the nicest guy I have ever met) was in a terrible car accident. He was driving drunk, wasn’t wearing his seatbelt, wrapped his car around a utility pole and is now in hospital in critical condition and a medically induced coma because of massive head trauma. This was such a terrible thing to hear…he really was the nicest guy I have ever met. When comparing his niceness to mine….he has about a %1,258,392 greater niceness level than I do.
This was such a horrible thing to hear…John had a little bit of a problem with drinking (if someone asked me, I would say he did), but in no way did I ever expect to hear this kind of news. After I heard the story, I could only think of one of my best friends and his little brother, Kyle. Kyle died from a drinking and driving accident about 4 years ago….going to his funeral was one of the worst/saddest events I have ever attended…wait, no it definitely was the saddest.
This is a horrible accident that has happened, but one learning lesson could be that life is short. He might have been drunk and someone could argue it was his own fault, but anyone, at any time could die.
I was reading a blog and she talked about how everyone wants to leave their 9-5 job to travel. I do not want to leave my job, I simply want to explore the world while I still can. When I am higher in my career (even though I am at my 10 year goal of being a brand manager) and I am not willing to give it all up for an adventure or I have a family, then I cannot simply sell my house, quit my job, sell my belongings and simply leave it all behind. John’s accident has made me realize how precious life is and that I will definitely not live forever. This makes me want to go on my trip all that much more. I want to really LIVE and not just get by. I love my job, but if I died tomorrow, I KNOW I haven’t experienced anywhere close to as much as I want. Well, I am starting to ramble and I should probably stop.
I am not religious, so for the few people who might read this, I do not ask you to pray for John and his family…I just hope everyone who does read this to think about how short life is, learn from the story about John and keep things in perspective.
John has not died, he is still in a medically induced come…I hope for the best and I really wish more than anything he will come out okay. I would like to see, talk and laugh with him again.
R.I.P. Kyle Vissing….I still think of you all the time.
-Chris