Goodbye :(

[journeyman Mick]

I just lost a friend on the weekend, he was doing what he enjoyed and I always thought that when you have to go then going doing what you enjoy best would be great. But I guess that's what you think when you're young and single, most of us take on responsibilities and temper our ways, not my friend Mark. He leaves behind his wife and ten year old daughter , not a good Christmas for them I'm afraid. I have fond memories of shenanigans with Mark, SCUBA diving in Lake Eacham in the middle of winter for something to do(and then racing off to the pub to down a few stiff drinks in front of the open fire), bungy jumping while strapped to a couch (promo stunt for his upholstery business), driving up the coast after a cyclone trying to find some surf and him whipping a business card out of his wetsuit for the underwater videographer (almost choked underwater laughing!) As usual Mark was probably taking risks,( http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/...00956&region=7) and possibly being naughty (http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/com...5E1702,00.html) but he was living life to the full. Unfortunately his luck finally ran out. I shed a few tears for him tonight, and more for his wife and daughter. I'll miss his larrikin streak and his sense of humour. Just writing this to clear my head and share my joy and grief at having him as my friend.

Mick

[DanP]

Mick,

You have my sympathies for the loss of your friend.

Dan

[bsrlee]

At least he didn't have long to wait, and as you have said, he went doing what he liked.

Just saw the Oncologist today with my father, he has just been told he has 'small cell' lung cancer, they can't operate on it & even if Chemo works, it will probably keep coming back in more places. He is the eldest of 3 brothers, last survivor - Big 'C' got them all.

Trouble shared is trouble halved.

[vsquizz]

Mick, I don't know what to say mate. I had a mate Mark when I was a lot younger. He was as wild as a Tropical Creek after a cyclone and we always told him that he wouldn't make 21. Well he didn't make it, did himself in over a girl and we always thought it would be wrapping his bike round a tree at 180 kph. There's no good side but perhaps it was better he was doing something he loved.

Better the lives of the people who had the good fortune to know him.

With condolences

[namtrak]

All the best Mick, we used to look at those Scuba Divers and think they were crazy!!!

Cheers

[Wood Borer]

Sorry to hear your news Mick.

[TassieKiwi]

I too lost a good friend in a bizarre accident - one of those larger than life dudes. Bloody hard to handle, I was numb for ages. He left two young sons and a wife.

Nothing wrong with grieving mate - eventually you'll remember the good times more and more.

[bitingmidge]

Mick,

I don't want to devalue this thread and the loss of anyone we know and care about is never an easy thing to understand, which is why you
SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME when I saw the title of the thread.

I thought you'd spat the dummy and were leaving!!!

Hope the goodtimes you shared will be with you forever.

Cheers,

P

[Wongo]

I am so sorry Mick. I feel so sad for Mark’s wife and daughter. I hope they are well.

[HappyHammer]

Better out than in Mick...

[barnsey]

Mick,

I don't want to devalue this thread and the loss of anyone we know and care about is never an easy thing to understand, which is why you
SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME when I saw the title of the thread.

I thought you'd spat the dummy and were leaving!!!

Hope the goodtimes you shared will be with you forever.

Cheers,

Me too :eek:

Condolences to you, your family and his, mate
I'll raise a glass in salute for you.

Jamie

[Alastair]

Mick

I feel for you and his family. I lost 3 friends (my best mate, a team mate, and one of my opponents) in separate spearfishing, (blackout) accidents in the '70's. Thinking of Eric, and how his disappearance affected his young widow still breaks me up to this day. But then we were all bulletproof at that age. Several of us from the same circle had near misses, myself included.

In subsequent years, I lost several friends skydiving, but it never got any easier. We also subscribed to the idea that they went doing something they loved. While this is valid for the departed, I suspect it doesn't wash with those left behind.

I have spent much of the last 15 years lamenting the loss of that lifestyle, and blaming it (tongue in cheek) on not being able to afford it after getting married . However, to be honest with myself, perhaps the pain I had seen years ago made its mark.

I don't skydive any more. I do miss it. I would miss my family more. I do spearfish occasionally, but find that I have become a real life wimp. Some of this is because at 50-something, I am no longer physically competent, but more so that I am just scared of what the real stakes are.

Mick, my sympathies again, and apologies for hijacking this thread, but the incident and your post, hit a long covered nerve.

[AlexS]

My sympathy to you and your mate's family Mick. It's probably little consolation, but sometimes people can pack more life into 30 odd years than others into a hundred. Sounds like your mate was in that category.

[silentC]

It's funny how your attitude to risk changes as you get older, get married, and have a family. Well I guess it does for many - it did for me. In my 20's I was involved in a lot of risky activities, like rock climbing, white water rafting and so on. Around my 32nd birthday, I suddenly lost the nerve. I'd fallen down a cliff a couple of years before and I always blamed it on that but in reality I just suddenly woke up to how tenuous a grip on life we have. I miss all that stuff now and then but these days I try to keep it safe for my wife and kids and also for myself. I guess I lost my bulletproof vest somewhere along the line.

Who's to say what's the right way to behave? As long as you enjoy yourself, that's all that matters in the end because you're dead a long time.

Anyway, sorry to hear that you've lost a friend Mick.

[Andrew in Tas]

Sorry to hear about your mate Mick.

I guess lifes a balancing act, you dont want to take silly risks but then again you dont want to be sitting in a nursing home at age 90 saying what have I done with my life, I wish I'd done this or given that a go.