Thursday, October 16, 2008

In MeMoRiAm, {Roger Piza 1970-2008}

Two days ago our friend Roger passed away unexpectedly. He was on a plane on the way back from the Philippines when his heart stopped. The news was spread and recieved with great shock and disbelief.

The thing is, Roger wasn't overweight, nor a drinker; he stopped smoking some time ago when his best friend died of a stroke. Roger was the "friend who's always there", or at least we seemed to think so.

The most loyal 1980's fan, he would only take jobs where he was allowed to wear jeans and sneakers, which we would tease him for. A hopeless romantic, a board game enthusiast, a dog person, a die hard fan of Meatloaf, Survivor, Billy Joel, Starship & Kiss. He was not ashamed to miss a friend's wedding for a concert and claimed "Name any song you like -any- and chances are it was written by Jim Steinman". I remember I named like 3; of course they were. He could debate you for days and was very firm in his convictions. At times it seemed he was the glue that held the group together and others the target of the practical jokes (I mean, he fancied Sandra Bullock, too!).

My husband and his friends knew him from years ago, almost a childhood friend; and yesterday they once more retold those "Roger stories" from what seems ages ago. At some point there was an empty chair and we all swore he was there. We just can't fathom the idea of him gone, just like that.


Roger was the first of Miguel's friends I met, before we even started dating; back in 1995. He was always the first to get hold of everyone when something had to be said or planned, he caught the garter at my wedding (Which we all found hillarious because it was him & Brenda who gave it to me for my "something blue"!), he always hosted the Superbowl (he had two different cable services to catch every single game) and would keep statistics of every single domino round the "tribe" played.

When our baby Gala was born, Miguel had gone out to grab a bite with my brother when Roger stopped by to visit. The hospital's pediatrician came by to introduce himself and congratulated the proud "father". We both laughed and he said "the Father" is out having dinner, I'm a family friend. The doctor kept going on and on telling us all about baby care and then gave Roger a hug and said "again, congratulations "Dad". We just laughed and laughed.

And so it goes, our friend is no longer here. There are not enough words or actions, just this absolute emptyness, this loss, this dark tunnel where the only light is the tiny glimpse of hope that we'll wake up and realize it was a bad dream, that our "family" is once again, complete.

{This post is for you: Loyal friend, son, brother, father, partner. You are now reunited with your best friend. Until we meet again, we miss you already}


{In the hope of eternal life, which God; who cannot lie, promised long ages ago... Tit 1:2}



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