Shereem
This is really hard for me to do, so I cannot imagine how hard this is for all of you.
I guess it goes without saying. I'm so sorry for your loss, and it is lost to me as well. There are plenty of other people whose lives Stephen touched that feel the same way.
I have a handful of memories of Stephen and maybe even more. But I will share a few with you., whoever is reading this.
When I used to play tennis in the morning with the guys, more often than not I had a cheerleader to my side. It was Stephen. He got a kick out of the fact that I usually played better than most of the people on the court. One day, he looked at me and told me I looked thirsty. I told him I was. Less than three minutes later, a diet dr. Pepper was being thrown down to me from the balcony to the tennis court.
The second memory was giving tennis lessons to your grandchildren. Very generously, Stephen tributed his grandchildren's success on the tennis court to my tennis lessons when they were very young. I was always very touched by that. I'm not sure how accurate any of that was, but I was appreciative of the thought.
Last memory I will share was the last time I saw Stevphen at the pool. He was doing his usual floating thing where he looks like he's just sleeping on top of the water. Before he got out of the water, he was just looking at me. I asked him if someone turned on his mute button because he had no mute button. LOL . He just looked at me and said he was trying to figure out how long we had known each other. I answered over 20 years. And Kiddingly said " Me love you long time" from I believe it was Pretty in Pink movie.
He looked a little bit wobbly to me and imbalanced. I was with two clients of the time, made sure they were stable, and ran out of the pool. I was concerned that Roz would have to walk back to the apartment with Stephen so unstable and was ready to help her get him back there safely. His walker was nearby, and that was the end of the conversation. They both thanked me for my concern.
Fast forward if you will a few days later and here we are. I am missing a dear friend, and I'm really so sad and sorrowful that Stephen left us when he did.
I wish you all of his family the best, and I hope you pay attention to the man that was, his quirky ways, and his wonderful way to make everyone smile.
My life was certainly better with him in it.