Keith is the love of my life... I will love him forever and always... Our time together was far too short;( We would have been together 6 years in only a few short months;(
This last year or so was the hardest;( Sept of last year Keith lost his best friend in the entire universe.... Dog;( Only two weeks later Keith was diagnosed with Esophageal cancer.
The road traveled was very hard..., yet Keith being who he was continued to stay focused and motivated. He continued to work out and go to work when he was able. He stayed independent up until the very end.
In fact as soon as he regained just an ounce of strength after under going such a horrible time with a combination of chemo /radiation and Surgery, Keith still didn't let it keep him down!!
As soon as he was able to move a little he insisted he did not have anyone helping with anything and insisted on his independence and alone time to regroup.
During this time, he concentrated on his health. He started juicing, eating healthy and changed his eating habits completely. Keith became very dedicated to feeding his mind body and soul good things.
Keith used this time to not only heal himself physically, but also mentally by spending allot of time out doors being one with nature, meditating.
He would cut tree limbs down, weed, cut his grass, work on his leaves, (he usually just left them alone) and did anything he could to regain his Strength. It was amaxing some of the things he was forcing himself to do... He didnt care how exhausted it made him... No mercy.
Looking back, I kind of wish I was less like a nag... Always saying something to him like be careful, did you drink water, did you put sun block on, did you wear your hat, did you take your iron, did u stop to eat lunch, did u take a nap and rest, be careful your going to get heat stroke, don't over do it... Do u want me to help you, yaddy yaddy yah...
Wow! I drive myself crazy! I just wanted him to be careful... Be ok...eat his blueberries and bananas;( I know I know..... We all love someone.... We all understand... Maybe some of us just try to love too much
Keith did return to work in only a few short months. He started working out again, lifting weights at the gym and at home. He was trying to get back into a somewhat normal lifestyle.
Keith was a motivated doer. During his healing time he started cleaning out his garage, and all his rooms in his home... Donating things to charity. It was incredibly amazing!
I can still hear the sound of pride coming from the other end of the phone line when Keith called me telling me how happy he was after he just came back from dropping off his last load at the good will.. He said he must have donated at least 5 or 6 trucks!!! I was soooo happy and excited with him!!!!
I remember this being such a huge accomplishment because Keith was always attached to his stuff...Those who knew him well understand why..and this to be true;)
I have so many reasons to be thankful I shared my life with Keith. He taught me so much about life, the most important thing he taught me was how to truly live it.
With him I was able to fight so many demons inside of me and learn to live in the present. I learned life is always going to throw us lemons and it depends on rather we choose to make Lemmon aid or stand there and get bruises and cry.
I learned how to ride a motorcycle, (I have my motorcycle license!) I learned how to shoot a gun and defend myself if need be. I learned to be more aware of my souroundings, reminding myself not everyone is your friend, always be on Alert.
I would get lost over and over and over again... And call him in a panic... It did not matter that my GPS was on... I swear my GPS just did not make any since, it was taking me in circles all the time.. If it was dark out and I was in the middle of no-where, rather then keith loose his patience upfront, he would calm me down, look up mapquest and find out where I was and direct me back to where I needed to be... Once he knew I was ok and no longer in a panic... Then he would let me have it... Lol.
He has replaced my GPS a few times trying to ensure I had a simple to understand upgraded GPS, but to be honest... It doesn't matter.... They keep changing the roads!! Lol (He even called my Dad once after my visit with him giving him a hard time because he didn't send me on my way with a map!!) That was Keith;)
I truly love him with all of my being, and honestly thru him I learned love is more then a word.. It is unconditional
I'm so very thankful he has so many wonderful close friends... Keith was special, creative, smart, funny, witty and the best part was he was who he was and didn't care what anyone thought or said... Well ok, if you said something that didn't sit well with him he would let you have it .
.. Each of us had our own relationship with him...
Keith had many different sides, many different depths, he had so many different interests And because He was such a "Zenius" he needed to constantly stay active And was constantly interacting.
Not only was he constantly emailing, texting, facebooking, he was also interactive on many different websites offering suggestions and feedback on many diverse topics from politics to medical to recommendations on memorials for animals. When you get a chance, just take a moment a google Keith's name... You will learn so much more of who he was thru his writing and opinions. He was so remarkable and amazing!!
My daughter is 13 now, Victoria, I first introduced her to keith when she was 7 yrs old. He has had a huge impact in her life. She used to just attach herself to his arm and stand on his foot and let him walk her. She called him her BFF. She always always said something about his big muscles when she was little and he loved to hear how she would tell her daddy And friends About how her BFF had huge muscles! Lol. He didn't miss a Christmas with her, in fact a few years ago he wasn't feeling well And I was only seeing her Xmas eve this one year... Keith drove all the way down to Orlando to ensure he would spend a few hours with her for Christmas, He only spent an hour, but just enough time to make sure she knew he was there. There have been many shared holidays, christmas', trick or treating, thanks givings, Easters with Easter baskets... Even keith himself has Easter egg hunted with her in his back yard. (she shared with me he hid money in a plastic egg and hid it up high where only he could find it... And of course he did... Lol) He has dressed up in costume for Halloween... He loved her so much, as if she was his own.
Oh gosh how could I forget his favorite thing... Going out with the fishes!!! He loved dressing in his uniform!!! He absolutely loved to iron, so making sure his uniform was pressed perfectly once it was returned from the cleaners was his specialty. Preparing for a day out on the water was an art form.
Keith never ever went anywhere without being prepared...he also made sure he prepared enough things for his buddies he rode with;) . He just loved his fishy buds. I always looked forward to the fishy tails.. ;) I knew they went out to have fun and look for flotation devices (Keith really was excited when the special holidays came around... more flotation devises to be on alert for) lol;)
I was always asking him About his child hood stories.. It took a few years, but he finally opened up to me on the heart of what Made Keith who he was.... This one was my favorite child hood stories... ;)
He said when he was 4 years old he was one of those children who couldn't sit still, always into everything... Wild, and if the house was quiet you needed to see why.... He was always in trouble.
He was always figuring things out... Always a smarty pants, one afternoon he was bored, as 4 year olds become quite easily and was alone in the back room and wanted to figure out how the tv worked... So he took it completely apart....
He said when everyone checked on him, he had tv parts everywhere and he just looked up at everyone and said "I'm a Zenius!"
Keith sure was a Zenius!!!
Keith I love you
