Darren...One Of The Best

 They tried reaching me this morning, but didn't know how, since I do not work Fridays. They got emy team together on a group call and delivered the news...our boss, our supervisor and friend died. Heart attack. I got the news from a friend.

I'm gutted.

There are people in your life placed there for a reason, people who you seem to draw more from them than you can ever give back. These people...they're stabilizers, a solid foundation when all around you life is unsure, crazy, and even terrifying. And as you age and the troubles from yesterday end and even bigger troubles appear on the horizon, those people...those rock-steady people always seem to be there, always willing to talk, to listen, to smile back when you answer their question of, "how are things going?"

When you find those people, they don't just leave an impression...they touch your soul. They become something more than a co-worker, a friend.

And when they're gone, everything that once seemed solid disappears like waking up from a dream and what you thought existed only moments before, may have never existed after all.

My boss and I started with the organization the same year. I'm six month younger than him. He was my boss for more than a decade. Before moving to his team, I was a supervisor, different department, but same level, and I was constantly surprised at how well he did his job. Usually, someone who excels at that level gets promoted, but he didn't seem to want to move up. He liked where he was, liked the interaction between management and the front-line workers. I always respected that, and I understood it, too. When you first start, you want to climb that ladder as fast as you can and those that do, sometimes leave broken relationships in their wake. No, he was different, and I'm not alone in thinking how lucky those on his team were because he was our boss and no matter how crappy the job, we knew he had our backs.

On Tuesday, he and I chatted for our monthly one-on-one meeting. He met with everyone on the team for an hour each month. A few years ago he and I go the idea that instead of always meeting on screens, we'd meet for lunch. Since he and I work five counties from each other, we'd meet somewhere in the middle. The last time was last fall. On our monthly zoom meetings we'd always say we needed to continue the in-person lunches. On the last call we talked about work, about college sports--he's one of the biggest (and best...) BYU fans I've ever met, and when either BYU or Utah beat the other team, both he and I were magnanimous, no matter the outcome.

The news broke hours ago. I'm still numb. We used to joke about retirement and how long we both thought we'd work. We could talk sports, comic cons, work, missions, losing parents, even adoption. And I was just one of his team...everyone had that kind of relationship with the man. He was the best boss I've ever had, and an even better person. When you lose someone like that, there's a void that can never truly be filled, a hurt that can never fully be healed. 

We lost a good one...one of the best. I'm forever blessed to know him and to call him friend. God's speed, Darren...until we can have that next in-person one-on-one.