The Best Friend I Never Had

I have lost a good friend. He was someone that I never really met,yet I had contact with him every single day. Emails, comments on photos..song dedications from you tube. It has been so strange trying to figure a way to grieve someone that you really didn't know,so since it was a cyberspace loss.....I thought I would work through it in the same place the relationship existed. Right here.
I never heard Dave's voice. I never saw his profile or heard his footfall. I don't know what he smelled like. Old Spice? LifeBuoy? Old Person? Onions?
What I do know is: he was kind, giving, had a nutty sense of humor. Loved all music, but had a special fondness for opera. Was extremely proud of his ancestry. Loved his family. Had adored his Mother. Served in the Army. Owned a greenhouse at one time. Graduated from Cornell. Was born in Ossining,NY. Did not like dogs!( never heard the story on that one).Liked to ride a bicycle. Loved to take photographs. Cooked...real food like stuffed peppers and grilled chicken. Drank a beer on occasion. Watched sports on television and really enjoyed college sports.

I'm glad I got to know him the little bit that I did. He made life more fun for me for a brief period. It's probable that I saw an opportunity for a father figure in him,but I don't care. He did remind me of my dad in some ways. He even had a SuperPickle!
I have been working on this post for several weeks and I believe that it's doing for me what I wanted it to. This is my chance to give a cyber send-off to a cyber friend.
Good bye Dave. Thanks for the fun memories! I'm a better person having known you!


Below is a copy of the article from The Park Seed Company's web page and includes the eulogy that Dave's friend Klaus wrote for the visitation.

More about "SISUDave" Anderson

It has long been the case that the ripples of our lives reach much farther than we realize. And in this world of blogs and email and websites, it's truer than ever.

Today, I found out just how true that is for Dave Anderson, the retired Park Seed Company horticulturist who passed away this week. There's a tribute to Dave's in a Baltimore-based blog. The author, Jeff Quinton, never actually met Dave, but they became friends in cyberspace, thanks to Dave's Flickr contributions. The little picture of Dave shown here was his signature image on Flickr.

Of course, those who knew Dave personally for years have very special memories of him. Take, for example, Klaus Neubner, retired Park Seed president. He and Dave because close friends, sharing their commitment to keeping Greenwood's parks green and beautiful. Klaus wrote a moving eulogy that Dave's nephew, Peter Anderson, read at the visitation. To read Klaus's eulogy--and find out why Dave's screen name was SISUDAVE--

Eulogy

Here is a typical phone call to Dave Anderson:

"Hello, Dave!"

"Hello, Klaus--what's up today?"

"Well, it's not supposed to rain today and tomorrow. It's a good time to spray Kudzu at the Rock Creek Trail. What day would suit you?"

"I don't care."

"Okay, let's do it tomorrow. I'll pick you up at 9 in the morning."

We had a conversation like that practically every week for the last 9 years. Only the type of work and location would change.

When I asked Dave to help maintain parks and trails in Greenwood on his retirement from Park Seed, he hesitated a little. But soon he saw how well the gardening activities suited him. We fell into an easy rhythm, discussed briefly what needed to be done, and just did it. A long lunch afterward was a given. Mig's was a favorite spot where we would often run into folks from Park Seed. Soon, Dave joined God's Gardeners at Immanuel Lutheran Church.

He loved to talk about his far-flung family, and going to Finland meeting his relatives was a highlight. After that, his license plate always read SISU, a Finish word meaning spirit, élan, pep, and power.

I was astonished by how many friends he made on the Internet. He would email with them constantly--some would even come to visit him, and off they went to Floriday or somewhere.

One day, he took up photography. He learned how to post his pictures on the Internet site Flickr, and we owe our collection of Medieval Garden flower pictures to him. Dave never went anywhere without his camera, even into the movie theatre. He got a scare when the police tapped him on the shoulder and motioned him out. It turned out he was suspected of videotaping the show in order to sell copies. He laughed about it when he told the tale, but it was most embarrassing to him at the time.

We talked about what would happen when the end came. Dave hoped it would come quickly. He did not want to linger, as so many he saw at the VA hospital. God granted him his wish. I'm glad to have had his friendship for so many years. He will be irreplaceable to me.

By Klaus Neubner, December 12, 2007