Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one. ― C.S. Lewis Not many people have impressed me over the years, but today I attended a funeral to an individual that did make that “everlasting impression”. Didn’t see a “dry eye” in the crowd today, and the only consolation I had was that I had the honor to call Kirk D Edwards my friend. And since many days would have lapsed if everyone had the chance to state their sentiments (at the funeral), I’m expressing them now to my friends (and to many that have still not heard about this) and hopefully others who knew him to celebrate his life too! Kirk was known to most as an ER doctor, and actually towards the end of his employment at Memorial City Hermann carried the title “Director”. If ya have managed to escape a proper understanding of what is going on in our hospital systems, the American “ER” has become the free “HealthCare” System to all. No one is turned away, everyone is helped, and am pretty sure that he had a hand in saving at least“one person a day”, whereas most can’t say in a lifetime. Did I mention that many of those folks weren’t “taking care” of themselves? Want to bet that 50% only knew another language? Wal Mart was a beauty pageant compared to some of the people that willingly were “letting themselves go” in frequenting the ER . Dr Edwards had the strangest habit of long pauses before he spoke. You could just see the “wheels” turning, as he analyzed, picked apart, and sorted everything he needed before speaking. Sometimes his dry sense of humor wasn’t understood by many, but I got it. I enjoyed making him laugh, for I felt he rarely enjoyed those occasions because of the seriousness of his profession. We often laughed while we “scared” many food establishments on the amount we ate. Imagine a Pappas restaurant offering an “all you can eat lobster” and stopping it immediately after we visited! The guy loved to hunt, and I enjoyed two of those type of trips, but what I remember most was the 4 day hiking venture in Big Bend. Cougars, snakes, 100+ heat, lack of water, loss of direction, varying elevations over a Texas desert were simple distractions to the love of being outdoors. Most people aren’t rational individuals, but they rationalize their actions to justify their behavior. Most people lack a “simple trait” which incorporates listening, most people have an agenda, most people aren’t interested in the “truth”, they just believe what they think is true. “Doc” wasn’t most people, and even though he realized the shortcomings of others, in his quiet way he cared for everyone. The quote at the beginning of this eulogy explains best why I considered “Doc” my friend. While I became “disgusted” with the Financial Industry, and began to understand the outright fraud of the Federal Reserve System, Doc Edwards had equally became disenchanted with his profession. He noted on many occasions that his industry stopped practicing “true medicine”, stopping short of a total condemnation, but nonetheless lacking the faith he once had. He could have remained silent, and used the next 20 years to accumulate his “nest egg”, but he did what most won’t, he followed his conviction. I don’t know who made the move first, but I’m sure I felt emboldened by someone that was following the same type of awakening and “being the change in the world!” He set up a clinic close to the “Woodlands”, took no salary for a good part of it’s first couple of years, and worked 7 days a week (After 5 years, his brother convinced him to “only” work 6 days a week). I got “feedback” from him for awhile, but he was now in the Woodlands, and my “life” was diverting my attention. I had been meaning to “pick up the phone” and would have taken up the conversation from where we “left off”. I always felt content that he was doing it his way, and he was passionate on completing it! But, you just never think a healthy 54 year doctor will leave the next day. The “strong men” in this world have an awful record of expressing “how they felt”, and I’m not looking to change this. However, I am looking to point out, that he was one of the few that traveled down a similar path, had some great laughs and times with, and most importantly “made me want to be a better man” Today at the funeral, I learned he had told his brother two days before his massive heart attack, that he had never been happier! The autopsy revealed an enlarged heart, and that 90% blockage had contributed to a sudden ending last Tuesday. I believe his hidden large “heart” represented his unspoken care for everyone around him! I miss ya already, Doc !!!
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 00:24:51 +0000
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