Remembering Tim

"Yes!" It was always "yes."  Did he have other words in his vocabulary?  Of course, but the word I always heard was "yes".  Tim was a stagehand, in fact a very talented one, but more than that he understood, as much as anyone I have known, that he was in a service industry.  That was his core.  His heart.  Yes!  

I will never forget having to call him, hat in hand, to ask for some consideration on a project, now forgotten. I only remember that I was not happy to be asking for it.  So I beat around the bush a little bit and finally blurted out that I had to ask for a favor.  "Yes!" he said, immediately.  "Now what's the favor?"  I can imagine even now his mile-wide smile while he said this over the phone.  That was Timmy.  Generous beyond all measure.  I am honored that he considered me a friend, enough to help me in this whole-hearted way.

But it wasn't me.  It was Tim.  That's who he was.  If there was any way to help, he would help.  If he could lighten the mood, he'd laugh that infectious laugh, and soon we would all be laughing.  If a solution to some intractable problem was needed, he'd offer it up as though anyone could have thought of it.

Yes, I will miss you my friend.

Steve Botkin

sbotkin@verizon.net