Tangents - 4th May 2005

I walked into the office this morning,
just like any other normal day,
thinking it would be any other normal day.
I opened the door and entered the office,
where I had spent many hours with my colleagues,
they had become as like a family to me.

I saw people with teary eyes,
people who would normally be smiling,
welcoming me in for another day of work.
I looked and saw women holding each other,
crying tears of sadness.
I saw the men of the office stand close together,
with bowed heads, as if contemplating.

My boss came to me and put his hand on my shoulder,
and said quietly, "Greg passed away Petar, I'm sorry,"
I could not believe it, I looked around for Greg,
and he could not be found.
With a trembling body and shaking legs, I collapsed,
on a chair, my head in my hands;
"How," I simply asked through a broken voice of pain.
"He passed away during his sleep, a heart attack," I was told.

It was as if he knew he would die,
for the day before, we had had a long talk,
and he told me he 'treated me like a son, he always wanted to have',
Greg told me to enjoy life and have fun and,
take each day as if it would be your last.
One sentence he said has stuck in my mind,
a message from him, when he was alive, '
and even now that he passed on;
"Petar life is a path of tangents, each decision leads you down a tangent,
each path takes you places, some good, some not so good,
but that is what life is, a risk, a game, we only get one shot at this.
Make it last my son, take your tangents and live them."

How would I know yesterday afternoon when i joked with him,
just before he left, that it would be the last time I would see him alive?
Greg, you have been like a father figure to me,
you are and always will be a part of my heart.
We will remember you. We will remember the laughs,
the friendship, the help and the special person that you were.
You will be a part of all our memories in our office.

I know I will miss you.
You will always be special to me,
It was you who told me once;
"Never give up Petar, if you lose at something,
get up, and get into it again. There is no prises for not trying."

Rest in peace cobber.
Through my tears, through my pain,
I keep you alive in my memories and my heart.
This is my tribute to you, Greg.
You will not be forgotten.
Rest in peace. Death shall have no dominion.

In memory of my work colleague Gregory Piggott - died at age 63.