A Hard Post to Write

I got some unfortunate news today about a friend and co-worker. Craig had been missing since Halloween, and I just found out this morning that he took his own life. Dealing with something like this is really tough, but I thought that sharing this info with you might help me cope with this and allow me to share the part of Craig's life that I knew. As I am writing this, I am listening to REM, his favorite band.

Craig was a really good climber and moutaineer. He was the kind of guy who would climb a fourteener, but not in the summer. That would be too easy. He would do it in the winter to make it more of a challenge. Sleeping in a tent in sub freezing temperatures with 3 feet of snow outside isn't my cup of tea, but he seemed to enjoy it.

I got to know Craig best this summer and fall, as he was part of our kickball team. He appeared to enjoy kickball as much, if not more than, I did. I think that the two of us really valued the camaraderie of playing a team sport, and he was always down for meeting up before the game to share a few beers. Craig never let a bad play or a losing score (of which there were many) get to him. He would say, "Who cares, it's just kickball. We're just out here to have fun and drink some beers." Our last game we dressed up in Halloween costumes, and Craig's was amazing. He went to McGuckin's and built his outfit. It was one of the most coolest costumes I have ever seen. He was a Roman Centurion and I have included a picture of him in his full regalia. It was hilarious watching him play in the costume. It was a little tricky to throw the ball with the shoulder armor (which was made of heating ducts). He figured out that it was easiest to fire the ball back to you like a bounce pass used in basketball. After rounding the bases for a run, he would give you a low five.

At work, he was one of the most valuable people that we had in the office. He worked in our GIS group and you could always rely on him to go above and beyond what was needed. Several of us were lobbying to get him a higher salary, as we didn't want to lose him.

Unfortunately, we have lost him and he will be dearly missed.