Freddie!!!

He lived life full throttle, no governor, and always smiling.

Freddie had a gait,
back in the day,
more a strut,
you couldn't mistake it, 
skinny, slightly bow-legged, 
he seemed to move sideways 
as much as forward 
when he walked.

Freddie Gurr, 7/11/1957- 3/16/2024.

Stick straight light brown hair,
parted in the middle,
each side nearly to his shoulders,
equally brown eyes 
alive and wild
that melted the ladies,
an infectious smile 
and even more infectious laugh.

Freddie lived life full throttle,
no governor, raw, fully animated,
always game 
and up to something,
he loved being outside,
his shirt off as much as on,
inside or outside,
his skin generally as brown
as a buckeye, 
every season of the year.

Get Freddie talking -- 
when he wasn't dancing 
and bouncing off the walls
to ACDC or Van Halen --
about trees and turgor pressure
and his eyes lit up,
ignited with excitement and anticipation,
his enthusiasm palpable.

Get Freddie talking
about summers in Michigan 
with his family
or sharing his dreams
of growing trees 
and caring for them
in Florida,
and you saw his soul.

Freddie was a comet,
burning so bright
we always feared
that spark would fade
long before it should,
and it did.

But what a trail
he left!!! 

RIP my brother!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: I met Freddie one summer when we both had internships at a Whirlpool Manufacturing facility in Marion, Ohio. That Fall he and his buddy Steve Muryn(ie) moved into the old house I lived in with several of my buddies just off campus at Ohio State.  We all lived together for a few more years and became great friends. I'm a bit tardy on this remembrance of Freddie who died a bit over a year ago.