Requiem for Wally

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

If I knew it would be the last time, that I’d see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly and pray the Lord your soul to keep.

If I knew it would be the last time that I’d see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss, and call you back for just one more.

If I knew it would be the last time I’d hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would video tape each action and word so I could play it back day after day.

If I knew it would be the last time, I could spare an extra minute or two,
To stop and say “I love you,” instead of assuuming you KNOW I do.

If I knew it would be the last time I would be there to share your day,
Well, I’m sure you’ll have so many more, so I can let this one just slip away.

For surely there’s always tomorrow to make up for an oversight,
And we always get a second chance to make everything all right.

There will always be another day to say our, "I love you"s.
And certainly there’s another chance to say our "Anything I can do"s.

But just in case I might be wrong, and today is all I get,
I’d like to say how much I love you and I hope we never forget…

that…

Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, young or old alike.
And today may be the last chance you get to hold your loved ones tight.

So if you’re waiting for tomorrow, why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes, you’ll surely regret the day.

That you didn’t take that extra time for a smile, a hug or a kiss.
And you too busy to grant someone, what turned out to be their last wish.

So hold your loved ones close today, and whisper in their ear.
Tell them how much you love them and that you’ll always hold them dear.

Take time to say, “I’m sorry,” “Please forgive me,” “Thank you,” or “It’s okay.”
And if tomorrow never comes, you’ll have no regrets about today.
…sob…

22

Wally always fascinated, entertained, and intimidated me. Finally about 4 days ago, I messaged him via ICQ, and he responded. We started a conversation, and I realized how nice, wonderful, and great he was. We talked the next day too. He even signed my guestbook for me.
I have never cried like this for anybody. Everytime I calm down, I remember something he said or did, and I start all over again.
What I wouldn’t give for one more conversation with him. No, not even that. What I wouldn’t give for one more post from him pause for tears just so we could tell him goodbye.
No matter what though, I’ll forever be thankful that I had the chance to know him, to talk to him. This board will never be the same w/o him.
I gotta go cry some more now.

23

Check out my proposal http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=28246 for a fitting memorial.

24

Everything is just so inadiquite. Damn I loved that man, I just can’t find words to say it.

25

I still can’t believe - much less understand - what’s happened today. This is just some stuff I wrote in a half-hour or so after a whole lot of chatting and drinking and trying to make some sense of all this. If you think it’s alcohol-induced cheesiness, bear in mind that deep down, I am too.

**When I woke up today
it all felt normal
The sun was out and the grass
Still needed to be mowed

I don’t know where you’ve gone
I still haven’t heard all the stories of where you’ve been
I only bumped into you
somewhere
In the middle of a journey
You began a long time ago

When I woke up today
I felt no loss
The sun was out and
Everything seemed good

Truth is, you wouldn’t remember me 20 years from now,
anyway
But still I want to find the right words
So you’ll know what you mean to me

You must be wondering what the tears are all about
Now that you’ve moved into a better place
You just made me feel like my home was real
And neverending. Laid. Back. Here in this unused space

Before I woke up today
Everything made sense
Now you’re gone -
I’m at a loss to explain this emptiness, I guess
And I know I’ll just never know another you.**

26

Val,

It is a wonderful sentiment…to me it makes sense.

I am sure Wally loves it…and yes I am sure he is reading these boards between looking over his family. That’s not an easy job for those that walk the Earth let alone that have gone to a hopefully better place than what we have. Knowing Wally, he is in a better place than we are. < smile >

As one that has lost many people in her life, I do believe that we all are looked over by our loved ones and friends that are now elsewhere.

I would like to think so anyway. I pray Wally is still with us all in some way.

27

Wally, you were a true original, and the cream of the crop.

Lord, how sad. How sad.

This board will not be the same. A vital part of it has gone.

28

I’m a relative newbie, and I never had the opportunity to tussle with Wally. To me, he was a guy, obviously well-known on the MB, who the veterans loved to rag on, in an affectionate way.

I’ve been reading the threads honoring Wally since his passing, and the honesty and raw emotion expressed humble me. You people truly are a community, and a community of caring people. Wally was lucky to have found you, and, from what I’ve read, you were lucky to have found Wally.

If, in my time on this MB, I touch one person the way Wally touched so many of you, I will consider my time here (and the corresponding degradation of my job performance) well spent.

V.

29

Millossarian wrote:

Was this, indeed, Wally’s last post? I did a search and found another one dated 4/18 (I posted it elsewhere in MPSIMS)?

Esprix

30

In memory of Wally, I have been reviewing his posts.

I have decided to dance around the house (when it’s empty) naked, singing, “Look at me, I’m Sandra Dee.” Just once a week though. I think he would like that. :slight_smile:

31

I Say, every year on june 20th. All members of the SDMB crack open a Molsen Canadian, and heave a gerbil into the ceiling in remembrance.
:wally

32

How do you miss someone who you only know by a screen name?
How do you miss a person who you’ve never really had a conversation with, only trading online jabs?
How do you miss a guy that you’ve never met, who lives in a different country, and has called you a “putz” on numerous occasions?

These questions are all rhetorical because I can’t answer them. All I know is that I miss Wally a lot.

33

I too never had the chance to personally talk with Wally. I wish I had. He was one of the main reasons I joined the SDMB… reading his posts, laughing my ass off at his stories, learning how to laugh at myself as he did. I miss him. I don’t know what else to say…except, Godspeed, Wally.

34

I still have no idea what I can say to help ease the pain…but I thought it time to post my sympathies.

Angelina:
I only ever knew you as jane_says. You and your family were in my thoughts when Wally had his heart surgery, and are again now. For myself, and my son, I’ve had to dig deep within myself to find strength recently. While my troubles are trivial compared to your loss, I feel comfortable saying that I share your pain, as a mother if nothing else. I offer you my strength to draw upon, my hand to hold, and my ear to turn, should you ever feel you need any of it.

Steve and Amy:
I grew up without a father in my life. Even still, I cannot fathom how it feels to lose a parent. Like most people here, though, I thought your dad to be a dear friend, and indeed the person I’d choose if I could choose my father. You are both very fortunate to have been raised by such a wonderful man. You have my sincerest sympathies.

TMs:
I only knew Wally by his words. He was as real to me, though, as my mother or my best friend, and I’m greatly saddened by this loss. You are all that real to me as well. I consider all of you to be dear friends. May you never forget that.

While it’s difficult to understand the reason, I do believe that there is a reason for everything, even for this. Whatever the reason, I’m eternally grateful to have known Wally. He was frequently a voice of reason and one thing I heard loud and clear from him was to celebrate life.

I mourned his death yesterday. Today, and henceforth, I celebrate his life…and the fact that I was fortunate enough to be a small part of it.

May stars shine for all of us,
Chris