life

A Proper Farewell

/ Rich Wilkins / 1 Comment

In the time since my own near death experience, I have to admit some survivor’s guilt. Once you realize it can all be over in the matter of a moment or a part of the day, you wonder why you got to survive and someone else didn’t. That’s even more true when you pay your respects to someone younger than you. It’s even more true when you know their family and know they’re good people.

On Tuesday night I stood in line for two hours and fifty minutes at the viewing of a young, fallen Easton fire fighter. I arrive there at 7:30pm, after putting my dog down (more on that later), and figured I’d be able to get right through. Instead, it was the longest continual stand I have done in over a year. It was worth it. One thing about Easton, about first responders, and about our local Lehigh Valley wrestling community (his dad was a long time official), we come out for our own. People stood calmly in the line as the 8pm end of the viewing passed and just marched along to the family procession and casket. Cops, fire fighters, EMT’s, blue collar Lehigh Valley people. The honor guard was an incredible touch.

Tyler Weidner was a good friend to my cousin. His father refereed many of my matches. Their family lives up the street. It breaks my heart that they had to endure this sudden tragedy. This young father was way, way too young to die. It’s unfair. As I said, I don’t understand life anymore. Going to things like this, I probably never will again.

35.

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

I was sitting in the Hotel Bethlehem having dinner with a friend on the final night I would be 34 as I looked out the window and saw the bus roll up to the door, with “MORAVIAN” scrolled across it. Out rolled repeated 22 year olds, dressed in their suits and dresses, smiles beaming across their faces. This was their night, May 10th, 2018, the gala celebration for members of the Class of 2018. These young Hounds had their lives in front of them. Twelve years ago, that was me.

Time is both our most precious resource and the most unforgiving critic. Time, inevitably will pass us by. For all of us, time is finite, and we don’t know how much of it we will have, only that we have now, the time between this moment and that morning when we are summoned home.

I turned 35 years old Friday, a semi-milestone in my life, one made easier by the fact that some bartenders and waitresses still ask me to see my ID. I feel my age some days, but others I still feel 25. I’m pretty proud of my life to this point. Professionally, I’ve worked for Presidents, Governors, Senators, Congress members, state legislators, judges, and local leaders, all over America, for diverse people, managing staffs and campaigns that were big and small. I’ve got a good relationship to my family, and I have stayed close with my friends from childhood to now. I serve on my college alumni board, my township board of auditors, and the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee. I’ve got a very sizable social media following. I go to lots of baseball games. I spent my birthday weekend at a wedding for one of my best friends. I came home and my dogs were happy to see me.

There are things that I’m either unhappy with or anxious about though. I’d like to be wealthier, maybe have a family life of my own, get more degrees, eat better, buy a home, get back into my athletic shape, and travel more. The good news though is that I’m not consumed by any of those things. They would all be added benefits. If they don’t happen, I’ll deal with it.

I’m pretty happy at 35, and pretty content with who I am. I’m a product of my community, family, friends, work experiences, and education, and I’m quite happy with that. Thank you for knowing me, and reading me.