Job Well Done

August 9, 2011 | Mark Williams

I haven't seen or spoke to Vince in 14 years. I know if he were here at this moment we would sit down and pick up right where we left off. Time and miles don't diminish true friendships like I had with Vince. We met at North Hagerstown High in the mid seventies and became buddies who enjoyed a good smoke, music, cold beer and the company of women.

Humor and irreverence towards all things even remotely authoritarian created a strong bond that would last through the years as our paths crossed and diverged. In the eighties after both of us had served in the Navy, traveled, went to different schools together our paths crossed again. I can't remember Vince ever having a job. A real paycheck on a regular basis. The fact that he could always find his way on his own terms was something I always admired about him. He just made shit up as he went along!

Along came the nineties and soon there was real growth. A wife, a daughter, an idea for a business. In the middle nineties I was restless and longed for change. Vince helped me every step of the way as he himself was navigating a start-up out of a small office on the campus of HJC. I would visit with him regularly at d'vinci Interactive where he would attempt to help me understand what he was trying to do.

My first real experience with the internet was there, with Vince, always encouraging and helping me plan for my families upcoming move to Phoenix, AZ. The last time I saw Vince was in the summer of 1997 when he spent an entire day helping me load up a moving truck for my journey. As he was arriving at my house he assured me my truck wasn't large enough to accommodate the contents of my house. I informed him that was pre-planned so as to force me to be more selective as to what I moved and what was left. He agreed and offered to take possession of anything that wouldn't fit.

I don't know why I didn't ever contact Vince whenever I visited Hagerstown while away all those years. Maybe I did and we just couldn't make it work. Maybe I didn't, I don't know.

We are all saddened by Vince's passing. No one will ever know what else he could have done with a natural life left to live. I don't think life would be as interesting if you were able to choose your time and date of death. This much I do know, that life is lived one moment at a time, each moment free from the last. The here and now is all you have. It is all you will ever have. Be happy with what you have, not unhappy with what you don't. Be kind, do no harm, love deeply. Every moment is a brand new opportunity to change your life.

Fair winds and smooth seas my friend. Your spirit lives on in the gifts of life you passed on to others!

Tonight we celebrate a life well lived and a job well done!

Mark S Williams
Greensboro, NC