I was reading Shannon's (my daughter) blog about her family and the last days of summer, about numbering our days. When I first read it I could see the boys just enjoying the last week before school starts back, and I just smiled.
Today I received news that Edd Wadley, someone I worked with at AT&T, has passed away. Edd had been suffering from cancer of the pancreas for well over a year, but if you ever met him during that time you wouldn't know it. He would not say anything about it, feel sorry for himself, or show other outward signs. In the early stages you noticed he had an orange tint to his skin and he adopted the nickname (chosen by him) of "Golden Flake". He fought the fight with a positive attitude, always asking how you were doing and not talking about what problems he had.
The picture of Edd was taken at the "greatest" retirement gathering ever. On Feb 22nd, 2008 five of us all retired at the same time (Edd Wadley, Cynthia Hodges, Daryl Ducote, Rick LaGrange and myself). As was the custom at BellSouth, when someone retires the company allows $500.00 toward a party or "tea". The five of us combined our $500.00 and had a cook out at Oak Mountain State Park for our friends and their families to attend. It was a wonderful gathering, approximately 200 people showed up. I did not see Edd after the party but we all tried to keep in touch via email. Now we will all meet again, tomorrow, to say goodbye to Edd. I know he is now in a better place and is once again well and healthy.
I was not the closest friend he had at AT&T and that is my loss. He was fun to be around, could joke with the best and you always enjoyed his company. He will be missed.
So as Shannon's blog says "count the days" and make the most of them.
1 comment:
Wow...dad that was so sweet. You should send it out to your co-workers from Bell. Oh...I mean AT&T. You should write more about things you remember within your family. Do that...and email it out. You have a talent for writing...you always have! :) Love you.
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