"Inspired" by Chris

If Chris were with us to experience his own unfair as it was untimely death, what would've been his reaction? And it's this question that I think best answers who he was and the invaluable lesson he taught us on how we should exist.

The notion of Chris being around for this experience first hit me during his funeral, when his best friend made a request (probably more so on Chris's behalf, him knowing Chris all to well and better than most), that we not be sad, that we live, love and laugh, the way he would want us to. 

It then hit me again when after his funeral, we were all eating and the place was quiet and someone said, "Could you imagine if Chris were here? He would have us rolling, this place would be in an uproar!" As security changed shift, I remember the relieving guard uneasily exclaiming, "How this place busy so?" and I smiled and thought to myself, "You real lucky Chris not here..."

I could see Chris looking down on us and saying in that deep, unmistakable voice, "Aye! Wha happen to allyuh? Come nah man!" Then hit you that infectious smile and say, "Doh worry! Everything go be irie! Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyye!"

Chris, this is how we honour your memory. This is how your existence, your life continues within us all...

This is how we take your 24 years of joy and success and transform them into life-long lessons for us all. This is how your death does not just become another statistic, another sign of the times, another reason to be outraged about the world we live in, another reason to add someone or something to our revenge/avenge list, another reason to blame the Government, another reason to focus on the negative.

This is how your death becomes something positive. This is how we can never ever allow your death to be in vain. This is how your memory can help us become more positive, more jovial and less concerned with the negative.

This is how you remind us that successful endings transcend humble beginnings. That humility, as it was in the beginning should always be held constant, right to the very end.

This is how your memory is going to help me rally the troops at the next event/lime so much so that the life of the party starts with me, but ends with we, that we eh come here to stand up and be jess so.

This is how your memory is going to help us make scary steps in life, like leaving the comfort of  something for a chance with the unknown.

This is how your memory is going to help us mash up Trini Posse stand in the oval for the next West Indies game, while everyone around us first offer looks of confusion, but one hour after jumping up and singing louder than we, and that is when we losing, if we winning, Lord have mercy!!!

This is how you showed us how easy it is to reach out and befriend people, whether it be front and centre stage in a Carnival fete, on a training course, in the oval, office, wherever. 

This is how you showed us that laughter is still very infectious, especially in a world where everything around us seems bent on finding a cure for it.

This is how your memory is going to help us transform the death of friend into the re-birth of our outlook on life...

This is how we live, laugh, love, work, play, lime, listen, care, succeed...the way you showed us how and the way, looking down from above, you would want us to...

Thank you Chris! 

Part 2 of 2