A tribute to Richard John Delmar Curtis December 5th 1981 - December 7, 2014 Today it is an honor and a blessing to pay tribute to a man who wasn’t just one of my best friends...he was a brother, a son, and possibly the craziest, most beautiful person any of us has ever met. Thank you all for coming to help celebrate Richards life and share our grief at his passing For those of you who dont know me, my name is Nick. Like many of us here today, Richie and I had been close friends since childhood. We grew up in neighbouring towns, and lived together for the past year. Some people used to say we were like a married couple. Some who first visited our flat would be shocked that it was just two BOYS living there. What with the tidiness, the candles and the embroidered flowery pink throw that still dons one of the YELLOW sofas. Yes Richie did use up all the toothpaste, yes he did block up both toilets and almost burn the house down, and yes I did wake up one morning to find him fast asleep on the kitchen floor with a slice of cold pepperoni pizza in his hand. But you know what? I wouldnt change any of it for the world. It was an absolute pleasure to wake up each morning to the question: Would you like a tea sir??! The funny thing is....he didnt even drink tea. You see...thats the kind of person he was, always giving whilst never expecting anything back... Whilst we were your typical boys and watched Chelsea and arsenal regularly on the telly whilst eating pizza and sinking cans of beer. We also laughed, we cried and we pretended we were on live televised cooking programmes whilst trying to replicate his mothers legendary spag Bol. Richie wouldnt allow horror films so we watched Towie and the Kardashians instead. He would plug his fingers in his ears and sing Twinkle Twinkle whenever a scary film came on. In fact, the last film we watched together from start to finish, and one of the few that Richie could cope with, was.....The Parent Trap. And before you ask.......yes that is the Disney film that stars an 11yr old Lindsay Lohan. Thats the thing with Richie, he liked what he liked, he was who he was and he never hid it. What you saw is what you got. We talked about life, about our careers, our aspirations and our goals. We talked about our families, our futures, children and marriage. We shared our problems, we congratulated each other on our successes, we cried when we were down, we shouted when we were angry and we sang and danced badly, but to our hearts contents. I just hope he knew how much those little moments with him mattered to me Richie was the kind of person that would make everyone laugh so hard that they’d end up crying. Who could forget his impressions? His singing? And his 2 unbelievable, unreplicatable dance moves? Yes he only had 2, but the wind down low and the chicken foot were the only 2 that he needed. Just thinking about those still make me laugh. Although there is simply too much to even attempt to reel through today, that is just one of the things I will truly miss about my dear friend. He could always make us laugh whenever we were sad. He always cheered us up when he knew, we just had a bad day. That’s the trademark of Richie. He always wanted to make people happy and he could do that effortlessly with just one raise of his eyebrow or one flash of that cheeky smile. Richie was modest about his attainments, and reticent concerning his abilities and achievements, he possessed great resourcefulness, level-headedness and integrity. For someone who had been in the Metro Newspaper with Boy George and partied on stage with Snoop Dogg, he sure wasnt one to brag. In fact, it was like getting blood out of a stone. I don’t know if Richie has any idea what an inspiration he’s been to so many of us. He was always too busy living life to worry about what other people thought of him, and he didn’t need to worry anyway. I can’t tell you how many times I saw Richie encounter a grumpy grandma or a stern police officer and leave them trying (and failing) not to smile. You just couldn’t help it around the guy. He valued his friends and derived great pleasure from his friendships, somehow managing to always keep in touch with each and every one of us. Whether we grew up with him, lived with him, worked with him, moved to Australia or just met him last week at a dinner party in East London. He always made an effort with everyone he met. EVERYONE. A few weeks ago, I invited Richie to my friend Elles party. Elle had just succeeded in a grueling trek to the summit of mount Kilimanjaro and was hosting one final fundraiser in aid of the NSPCC. Even though he had never met Elle or anyone else at the party, he wanted to come and show his support for her and for what he thought was a great cause. Elle contacted me after hearing the sad news of Richies passing and sent me the following message...I must reiterate, that night was the FIRST time she ever met Richie.....The message said: I didnt know Richie but we spoke at the party and he was such a lovely man. He was so thoughtful and spoke to me about my work. I remember thinking how genuinely interested he was For me, this needs no further words. As Im sure all of you will agree, this sums up the great man to an absolute tee. The last couple of weeks have been a terrible time for us all, living a nightmare that we have all struggled to come to terms with. But the one thing I can say, is that Richie would be so very proud of the way that everyone has been there for each other and pulled together, united in their support. It just goes to show that we all carry a little bit of Richie inside ourselves; that deeply entrenched natural instinct to care for one another. So, if we are looking for positives to come out of something this painful, it is that new friendships will be formed and cemented…and Richie would just love that. Richard Curtis ascended to the Heavens on Sunday the 7th of December, I know he will be greatly missed by everyone who knew and loved him. When someone who has lived a long and fulfilled life dies, its befitting and appropriate that we should give thanks for, and celebrate their life. When someone is taken from us, as Richie was, in the prime of their life, understandably we may not be as comfortable with words and phrases that point towards a celebration of their life. Deep hurt, anger, inconsolable grief and disbelief. These are just a few of the words and feelings that can be associated with thoughts of Richies death. But hidden in all the pain and sorrow that we feel. There is undeniably something to celebrate. We can celebrate the fact that we have known Richie, though he is no longer with us we can celebrate that we were privileged and honored to have known him. That he was a part of our lives. A light has gone out...without so much as a flicker. But what we have left... is the precious memory of how brightly it burned Richie had many unique sayings, some classic, some funny and some down right odd. But for me, there is one that sticks out. One I will never forget....... In the words of the great man himself……..I love you like cooked food Richard John Delmar Curtis.......the most loving child a parent could ever wish for, the most supportive brother a sister could ever dream of...and the best friend any guy could ever have. Richard John Delmar Curtis... The true definition of a gentleman. -------------------------------------------------------- For Richard Curtis, John, Jennie, and George Curtis with love from Nicholas Deakon Frost Bhoopongsa, Jake Valentine, William Porter and all of Richard Curtiss beautiful friends. Thanks to you all for making this video as beautiful as it could possibly be. And thanks to our beloved friend Richie...for making it impossible to forget someone who gave us so much to remember youtu.be/O8kIseRlgMQ
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 10:17:13 +0000
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