A Letter For The Ages
This, my friends, is what it's all about. I'm lucky to be surrounded by people who have this kind of thinking process and life view.
Thanks, Mark.
lks
From Mark G - a letter for the ages...
Well, I'm feeling motivated to write this email to my friends and family, so I suppose I'll go ahead and get it done. A few minutes ago, a lady by the name of Kim Laugherty called me. I've never me t Kim, but I knew her husband Richard. Richard owned and operated two companies. One is a cable manufacturing shop, where they make and install steel cable in commercial buildings. The other is the business Richard started first, and still spent most of his daylight hours working. It is called RDS (Rock and Dent Services). Richard had a thriving business going with car dealerships to repair chips in windshields, and dents from flying doors, or hailstones, etc. As you know, I've been known to buy a car every now and then. About 9 years ago, I purchased a new Toyota Sequoia. I drove it home and immediately wanted to hang a tennis ball from a string on the garage ceiling so I wouldn't hit the front wall of the garage while pulling in. Becky came out in the garage on her way to run errands, and saw me trying to attach the tennis ball, and saw me placing my foot on the hood of my 1 hour old Sequoia: "don't dent the hood", were the last words she said as she left. Of course, within 5 minutes I had dented the hood. In a panic I called the Toyota dealer where I had purchased the Sequoia, and their service department gave me Richard's phone # and told me he was the best guy in town to fix it. I called Richard immediately, and after hearing my story he felt so bad for me, he came straight over to my house to fix it. It was the first of many Saturday's that Richard would take time out of his theoretical "day off" to come fix some dent, rock chip, paint scrape, etc for me....and over the past 9 years, there have been a lot of them. During that time I had a lot of time to visit with Richard as he worked on my cars. He was a kindred spirit...he loved to hunt, loved his family....he loved a lot of the same things I do. We didn't do things together, but we most certainly enjoyed the time visiting when we did see each other. We had no problem thinking of things to say, or having to worry about how we were saying them. Richard was one of the hardest working & conscientious people I have ever met. He almost always worked something in to every conversation about his daughter, or his wife Kim. Richard came to my house a week ago Saturday, when I was gone for the day playing golf with my friends. He showed up.....again...to fix a rock chip in one of my car windows, and a dent in another car. As usual. he did such a remarkable job, I couldn't even see where the damage was prior to his repair. Becky gave him a nice tip, as he always deserved more than he charged me. I called him to tell him how grateful I was, and to thank him....again....for providing such excellent service to me, as he had done so many times. I don't think he often went to people's homes to do this work....he concentrated on the large volume car dealers offered him....but, I suppose I did represent a larger than average volume for an individual car owner! We chatted for a few minutes about his daughter's birthday a couple of weeks ago, and about how his business was doing. I had no idea it would be the last time I would ever talk to Richard.
I have never met Richard's wife, Kim, so when she called me this morning, I immediately was concerned that there was some sort of problem. Kim told me she was going through some of the numbers in Richard's cell phone and calling some of his good friends, and some of the people she knew Richard liked. She said he talked about me often, and always laughed when he did. She said he truly seemed to enjoy coming to work on my vehicles, as he enjoyed visiting with me.....but I assure you, not as much as I enjoyed visiting with him. I so wish now that I had been home when he came to my house that last time. Kim then told me Richard had been killed Friday morning in an auto accident on Rayford road in The Woodlands. A girl was texting on her phone, pulled out and broad-sided the truck Richard was riding in. He was a passenger, and did have his seat belt on. But it was apparently a violent accident, as it rolled the truck, almost tore the roof off, and threw Richard from the vehicle...he died instantly.
I'm writing this, and have include you on this email for a reason. You are a good friend, or a cousin, or brother-in-law, or a niece, or a nephew, or an aunt, or an uncle, or a mom, or a dad, or a wife, or a daughter....you are someone very special to me. I want this to be a wake up call for all of us that life is an incredible gift, freely given to us from God. Our lives are of great value. As such, I hope we all make as much from them as Richard did. Richard was making his life count....he was making a difference. He worked two businesses, with very little time for himself, so he could provide a great life for his wife and daughter. He did his work with great effort, and a lot of pride. There was very little idle time in Richard's life. This should also be a wake up call for us all that we are not guaranteed the next breath, much less tomorrow. Make every day count...give your best effort, and use the talents God gave you to your utmost ability.....take time to help other people, even when it is an inconvenience for you.....and tell the people you love that you love them, because you may not be able to do that tomorrow. If you are reading this, please know that you are a person I love. Finally, if you don't know the one true God who placed you on this earth for a divine purpose, please, please, please seek Him out....if you seek Him, you will find Him. Let me know if you want to talk about it....it's my favorite subject!
When I get details about the funeral arrangements for Richard, I will pass them on. I am hoping there will be some sort of scholarship fund established for Richard's 11 year old daughter. If you feel led to help, I can assure you there is no more deserving man you could help in this regard, than Richard Laugherty. And one last wake up call for all of us....cell phones and driving are every bit as dangerous as drinking and driving....so lets hang up and drive.
Thanks, Mark.
lks
From Mark G - a letter for the ages...
Well, I'm feeling motivated to write this email to my friends and family, so I suppose I'll go ahead and get it done. A few minutes ago, a lady by the name of Kim Laugherty called me. I've never me t Kim, but I knew her husband Richard. Richard owned and operated two companies. One is a cable manufacturing shop, where they make and install steel cable in commercial buildings. The other is the business Richard started first, and still spent most of his daylight hours working. It is called RDS (Rock and Dent Services). Richard had a thriving business going with car dealerships to repair chips in windshields, and dents from flying doors, or hailstones, etc. As you know, I've been known to buy a car every now and then. About 9 years ago, I purchased a new Toyota Sequoia. I drove it home and immediately wanted to hang a tennis ball from a string on the garage ceiling so I wouldn't hit the front wall of the garage while pulling in. Becky came out in the garage on her way to run errands, and saw me trying to attach the tennis ball, and saw me placing my foot on the hood of my 1 hour old Sequoia: "don't dent the hood", were the last words she said as she left. Of course, within 5 minutes I had dented the hood. In a panic I called the Toyota dealer where I had purchased the Sequoia, and their service department gave me Richard's phone # and told me he was the best guy in town to fix it. I called Richard immediately, and after hearing my story he felt so bad for me, he came straight over to my house to fix it. It was the first of many Saturday's that Richard would take time out of his theoretical "day off" to come fix some dent, rock chip, paint scrape, etc for me....and over the past 9 years, there have been a lot of them. During that time I had a lot of time to visit with Richard as he worked on my cars. He was a kindred spirit...he loved to hunt, loved his family....he loved a lot of the same things I do. We didn't do things together, but we most certainly enjoyed the time visiting when we did see each other. We had no problem thinking of things to say, or having to worry about how we were saying them. Richard was one of the hardest working & conscientious people I have ever met. He almost always worked something in to every conversation about his daughter, or his wife Kim. Richard came to my house a week ago Saturday, when I was gone for the day playing golf with my friends. He showed up.....again...to fix a rock chip in one of my car windows, and a dent in another car. As usual. he did such a remarkable job, I couldn't even see where the damage was prior to his repair. Becky gave him a nice tip, as he always deserved more than he charged me. I called him to tell him how grateful I was, and to thank him....again....for providing such excellent service to me, as he had done so many times. I don't think he often went to people's homes to do this work....he concentrated on the large volume car dealers offered him....but, I suppose I did represent a larger than average volume for an individual car owner! We chatted for a few minutes about his daughter's birthday a couple of weeks ago, and about how his business was doing. I had no idea it would be the last time I would ever talk to Richard.
I have never met Richard's wife, Kim, so when she called me this morning, I immediately was concerned that there was some sort of problem. Kim told me she was going through some of the numbers in Richard's cell phone and calling some of his good friends, and some of the people she knew Richard liked. She said he talked about me often, and always laughed when he did. She said he truly seemed to enjoy coming to work on my vehicles, as he enjoyed visiting with me.....but I assure you, not as much as I enjoyed visiting with him. I so wish now that I had been home when he came to my house that last time. Kim then told me Richard had been killed Friday morning in an auto accident on Rayford road in The Woodlands. A girl was texting on her phone, pulled out and broad-sided the truck Richard was riding in. He was a passenger, and did have his seat belt on. But it was apparently a violent accident, as it rolled the truck, almost tore the roof off, and threw Richard from the vehicle...he died instantly.
I'm writing this, and have include you on this email for a reason. You are a good friend, or a cousin, or brother-in-law, or a niece, or a nephew, or an aunt, or an uncle, or a mom, or a dad, or a wife, or a daughter....you are someone very special to me. I want this to be a wake up call for all of us that life is an incredible gift, freely given to us from God. Our lives are of great value. As such, I hope we all make as much from them as Richard did. Richard was making his life count....he was making a difference. He worked two businesses, with very little time for himself, so he could provide a great life for his wife and daughter. He did his work with great effort, and a lot of pride. There was very little idle time in Richard's life. This should also be a wake up call for us all that we are not guaranteed the next breath, much less tomorrow. Make every day count...give your best effort, and use the talents God gave you to your utmost ability.....take time to help other people, even when it is an inconvenience for you.....and tell the people you love that you love them, because you may not be able to do that tomorrow. If you are reading this, please know that you are a person I love. Finally, if you don't know the one true God who placed you on this earth for a divine purpose, please, please, please seek Him out....if you seek Him, you will find Him. Let me know if you want to talk about it....it's my favorite subject!
When I get details about the funeral arrangements for Richard, I will pass them on. I am hoping there will be some sort of scholarship fund established for Richard's 11 year old daughter. If you feel led to help, I can assure you there is no more deserving man you could help in this regard, than Richard Laugherty. And one last wake up call for all of us....cell phones and driving are every bit as dangerous as drinking and driving....so lets hang up and drive.
posted by Lawrence 3X at 12:20 PM
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