Never again will I let a friend go without making my peace. Ed Fincannon, rest ye weary soul…

A friend of mine passed recently…A friend I never made my peace with…His Mother and Sister gave him a eulogy that follows:

Eulogies

For those that were unable to attend Ed’s services today I am posting what was read.

Read by Ed’s mom:
Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.
Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you, and the old life we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference in your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolute and unbroken continuity.
What is this death but a negligible accident?
Why should I, be out of mind because I, am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner.
All is well.

Said by Beth (his sister): Thank you all for coming. It really means a lot to me and my family to have you all here. Many of you knew my brother as Ed, but to me he has always been my Eddie.
We loved each other as much as it was possible for a brother and sister to love each other. He wasn’t just my big brother, he was my best friend. I know it is so heartbreaking when a young person dies.
We all think about the great life that was ahead of him.
The two of us always dreamed of opening the perfect nightclub and living upstairs in some ridiculous apartment.
He wanted to make so much money that no one in his family or circle of friends would ever have to worry. Eddie was just that guy.

He celebrated life.
He loved to eat good food.
He loved to love beautiful women.
He loved his family – the whole crazy cast of characters we are.
He liked his music loud and he took pride in being the life of the party.

Don’t feel sorry for Eddie.

He experienced things in his short 25 years that some people don’t even experience in a lifetime.

He was an award winning trumpet player.
He learned how to ski & snowboard.
He could play the piano.
He was once run over by a truck.
He went to cullinary school.
He owned his own home.
He went skydiving.
He received a college degree.
He went to bartending school.
He owned his own car.
He co-founded a once popular website.
He swam in a pool of sharks.
He was an awesome DJ.
He was robbed at gunpoint.
He was loved by many women.
He was in love with even more women.

I dunno.

I could go on for hours about the things Eddie was lucky enough to experience.

It is easy for us to only focus on the fact that he will no longer be here…to make a witty comeback or to stand up in someone’s defense, but it doesn’t change any of the times we’ve shared with him.
Eddie wouldn’t want anyone to stay stricken with sorrow. He would want us all to do something crazy and fun in honor of him.

Remember him and laugh. I will miss his hugs and the face he makes when I make him laugh.

Please just keep him in your hearts and remember him as the great guy he was. My brother. My Eddie.”

That was Ed Fincannon. Rest in Peace, Brother. I wish I could’ve said Goodbye.