i met chad when we worked together last summer at borders books & music. talking with him during breaks, i soon discovered what an incredible person he was. i was fortunate to become close friends with him.
due to illness and circumstances of his birth, chad was physically disabled and couldn't walk or move his legs. through his mother's dedication and his own determination, he achieved the miraculous and was able to take his first steps at the age of 9. newspaper articles were written about him. his mother published an amazing book about the experience entitled healing quest: a mother's intuitive search.
chad went on to get a.a. and b.a. degrees in philosophy. he touched people's hearts wherever he went... this disabled boy who was able to overcome so much. but what made him inspirational also made him seperate and different and he was very, very lonely.
we were somehow drawn together at borders. during lunches and dinners, we just sat at a table in the cafe surrounded by piles of books we'd gathered on buddhism, existentialism, physics, poetry, etc. our conversations became so long and intense, we started hanging out after work. several times we stayed up all night talking until the sun came up. i loved to listen to him tell the stories of his life... i loved it when he taught me philosophy... i learned so much from him. and we shared absolutely everything - sorrows and visions and struggles and joys...
after i left borders to go back to school in the fall, we stayed in touch but eventually lost track of each other when the holidays came...
about a week ago we got back in contact via e-mail. although it usually makes me a bit uncomfortable to think of my friends reading this thing, i told chad about my diary because i thought he might dig it - and figured it would at least help us catch up. we then exchanged some awesome e-mails and he shared realizations he was having and quotes from books he was reading...
he told me about watching the snowfall at his dad's house in the mountains and sent a beautiful poem he'd written about it:
The Light
The Light rises slowly over the mountain
The Ice sparkles like diamonds in the moonlight
The Golden rays join the diamond Ice to form rings of rainbows
Sun rise in the mountain snow
The Dark
The Dark moves quietly as it envelopes the light
The night is still as the first rays of light dance on the ocean
Moon rise at sea
he also told me something that brightened my day.. brightened my year.. in fact, brightened my whole life:
"You have the ability to spark, and ignite in me the Passion and Love I feel for Life. And you make me think of things in different ways and show me pathways and connections that I would not have imagined which lead me to vistas or visions of worlds I have never known."
i think that's one of the most wonderful effects someone can have on another person and it made me feel honored.
then, yesterday morning, he showed up at my philosophy class. mr. ciraulo has been a mentor of chad's since he got his a.a. from west valley. in fact, it was always chad's aspiration to be a philosophy professor. however, working on his senior thesis on nietzche four years ago, he ran into major writer's block and wanted to give it up altogether. though he finished the b.a., he felt completely stuck on the subject and essentially abandoned it.
however, i just found out from him that after reading some stuff in my diary and particularly the entry with the herbert marcuse quote, something clicked for him. apparently, juxtaposing nietzche and marcuse in his mind, he came up with a synthesis and was able to finally move past the block to truly finish that paper. this was a big deal for him and it's changing his career path now. he went in on wednesday to speak with mr. c about it and then he typed everything up and brought it in yesterday morning.
i was extremely stoked that i could have something to do with this. i can't wait to read his paper. and i'm so glad he feels back on track.
chad is one of the best friends i've ever had and i'll always love him.