| I usually come home , dirty, smelly, and hungry from a hard days work and have a little routine I follow. I check my answering machine and of course delete all the messages. I then since I have an older home with no shower, start the water running in my antique �crow�s foot� bathtub. I then proceed to my room where I turn on my computer and as it �fires� up, I empty the change into the properly sorted holding devices I have. Dimes, nickels, quarters and pennies making a clinking sound as they land on each other. I then enter my password to log onto my system and check the water level in the tub. I run it very hot so if I get distracted a few moments it will still be warm when I get in. Besides...nothing like a nice hot bath to ease the tired old bones. I turn the water off and head back to my room for a quick E-mail check which normally lasts only a couple of minutes, except for this night. Like many of you who have AOL, I have several different screen names I use, some get a lot of mail, some get one or two a week. I noticed that this night, I had e-mail in them all so I started at the top and worked down the names. On the third name, the one I use when I work on the Legacy sites so I am not disturbed, I receive one of those �internet instant messages�, (IM for short). Normally I would dismiss it with a click of the ignore button thinking it was just a spam IM. Tonight, something made me open it. To my amazement it was not spam but a simple �Hi�. What transpired after that simple two letter word cannot be summed up in a few lines here, but, I will try. I responded with a �hello� and was ask who I was. Now...knowing the rules of internet and not wanting to be hunted down by a stalker or something, I refrained from giving out my name but did give my initials. Now this is not the first time this happened to me under this screen name. A year ago someone IM�d me asking about the same person that this one was. Yes we both kind of thought it weird that I had a name on their list and that this was the second time it had happened. This other person and I started a conversation up because the person she was looking for had passed away two years earlier. During our talk another IM popped up but this was an AOL member IM this time and the first word typed was �MARK!!!!!????�. I was shocked to say the least. Here this person seem elated to have finally caught Mark online and I had a choice to face. After letting him know that I was not Mark, his words changed and I could see the disappointment in them. He said he was sorry but he hadn�t seen him in such a long time and was worried that he was mad at him or didn�t want to talk to him. That is where I made my choice. He had to be told. I broke the news to him as gently as a stranger can. After a short silence, I know we were both searching for the words to say, I paid my sympathies and he showed his gratitude and said, �Thank you for letting me know. It�s better to know than to wonder�. The conversation with him dwindled but I felt something within me that I hadn�t for quite a long while. A compelling to write again. Then it came to me what/who I was to write about. I have no idea why I have to do this, I only know that it is because of him that I am. I returned to my first IM person and asked a favor. You see, the very first time I heard of Mark was about a year ago and that person and I talked quite a bit about different things but this did not �come� to me then as it has now. So I asked this person who was a lifelong friend of Marks if it was ok that I asked her about him. She agreed. For the next hour and a half we spoke through the wires and keys. She told me stories about Mark that made me smile and made me cry. They sent shivers through my spins and the hair stand on my arms as I read the words she wrote. Many things that Mark did and loved I related to and I came to �know� him if not just a little. I know Ashleigh and her family, most of all her father, (Mark�s best friend), Love and miss you very much. So here is a glimpse of Mark�s life and the memories from a young lady and her love for this remarkable young man who God called home. Thank you Ashleigh for taking the time to help me with this. A line form our conversation. (this is NOT her AOL screen name) Ashleigh: �There�s always a catch, the things you wish to remember, slowly fade away in time. The things you wish to forget seem to haunt you everyday and the time always seems to slip away on the times you want to hold the most�. |
| The Story |
 |
|