August 17, 2004
Funeral for a friend

Jeff.jpgYesterday was a sad day. I attended the funeral of my friend and fellow KC MINI Enthusiast Club member Jeff Weaver. He was only 39. Even though Jeff was a picture of health on the outside, a undetectable heart defect caused him to collapse while playing soccer last week. He died of massive heart failure and there was nothing that could have been done.

Knowing of Jeff's enthusiasm for his MINI, his family requested that someone from the MINI club say a few words at the memorial service. The rest of the MINI club folks nominated me to speak. It was hard, but I recounted my memories of becoming Jeff's friend through our shared passion for those fantastic little cars we both liked to spend so much time talking about. I've mentioned Jeff in my weblog before.

Jeff and I went to the Ultimate MINI driving acadamy together on May 2nd of this year. When we heard the event announced early in the spring, Jeff and I exchanged the old "I'll go if you'll go" routine both knowing that it'd be ok if we looked foolish or something. At least we'd be in good company. Well Jeff did just fine and I was the one who ended up in the grass looking foolish. Jeff was the driver immediately behind me when it happened. When we both came in, Jeff claimed he didn't even notice I'd gone off the course. That's the kind of guy he was. Instead of ribbing me about losing control, he encouraged me to get back out there and not to worry about it. No harm was done and we had a great rest of the day on the track.

I'm going to miss my friend. I joked to my wife on the way home last night that I couldn't understand why someone as nice as Jeff would die at 39 years old while there are still assholes walking around everyday. I was being facetious but it still doesn't make any sense to me.

All the time I thought I would have to get to know Jeff better is now gone and I am sorry for that. I will work to not take for granted the friendships I have now because I cherish each and evry one of them.

If you've been visiting here much, you know that my enthusiasm for my MINI is great. It's times like these that make me realize, it's not just the car that I like so much but it's the way my MINI has opened the door to relationships with so many other wonderful people both locally and around the world. There truly is a community built around these funny little machines and I'm glad for the opportunity to be a part of it.

So go hug someone you love today and in the metaphorical words of the late Warren Zevon - enjoy every sandwich.

lineup.jpg
Jeff's MINI is the Electric Blue one, third from the right.

Posted by todd at August 17, 2004 02:16 PM | Trackback
Comments

thanks for sharing that Todd. Life doesn’t make sense alot of the time. Sounds like your the KC mini club pastor. Jase

Posted by: Jason Clark on August 17, 2004 05:53 PM

sounds like this relationship was built through the mini for obvious reasons…. as jason clark pointed out in his previous comment…. you rock, bud. remember, you did get me to buy a mac tonight :)

Posted by: jason on August 21, 2004 01:20 AM

I was a high school class mate of Jeffs. We lived in the same neighborhood while he lived in upstate NY. We were both on our track/soccer teams so I guess you could say we were friends. Last year we had our 20th reunion and Jeff drove from home in his little car. I hadn’t seen Jeff since High school but we still chatted about his family and what he had been up to. Although he wasn’t a golfer he showed up to play bright and early, borrowed someones clubs and played as a fifth person in our group. As I said he wasn’t much of a golfer but came out to see everyone and have fun and we did just that.
I was shocked and very saddened to hear of Jeffs death. I have passed the word to some of our classmates and all our feeling the same.
Jeff was a great guy, you were very fortunate to have him in your life.
Thanks for the posting, other wise I would not have read anything being back here in NY still.

Posted by: Maria on August 22, 2004 06:33 AM

Please pass along our condolences to Jeff’s family. As a classmate in Highschool, I was also shocked and saddend by Jeff’s untimely passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

Rick

Posted by: Rick Sherman on August 23, 2004 06:57 AM

I was also a classmate of Jeff’s. And last summer at our 20th reunion I was so thrilled to catch back up with him. He hadn’t changed in the years since high school, and still looked like the kid that moved around the corner from me when I was in grade school. Thank you for your comments, and I will keep him and the Weaver’s close to my heart…

Posted by: Cathleen on August 23, 2004 11:21 AM
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