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Richard Lives in My Heart Forever |
| 緒言、懷念、摯友、懷念、再見、記憶、瀟灑一生、記憶中、痛失好友、再會、無名英雄、長存我心、好生好死、指導員、給Richard的信、A Letter to Richard、A Letter from William Lee、A Light that Shines、永留我心、記憶中的Richard、悼東衡夫人、茶友會、編後感想 |
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by Teresa Chang |
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On Dec. 16, 2010, the news of Richard’s death came from Susan’s phone
call as a bolt from the blue. I couldn’t talk much with Susan because I
was too shocked and sad. After hanging up the phone, I was sitting there
alone in a daze, with all kinds of images of Richard coming to my mind.
Then I burst into tears. I totally couldn’t accept this shocking and heartbreaking news that Richard, our good friend, big brother, the vivid, vivacious, handsome, smart fellow toastmaster, passed away?! It must be a very big joke that God played with us. How can God be so cruel to summon a good friend from us in such a hasty way? No sign at all ! We were not prepared ! Before long, Michelle called. I choked with sobs and was unable to speak clearly. Michelle felt strange and asked me what happened. I cried out to her “Richard is dead!” The tears were a way to soothe my sorrow and feeling of great loss. With Michelle’s consolation, I calmed down gradually. On Dec. 24, James, Charles, and Susan (might with some more members) went to visit Richard’s son and see Richard’s body. I told Susan that I decided not to go because it’s really too sad to see Richard’s cold body. I really want to keep the handsome and energetic image of Richard in my memory. My first sight at Richard was during my first visit to FYTC back in 2002. It was the special meeting for World Champion Daren LaCroix, and Richard was the President of FYTC at that time. Standing on the stage, so handsome, composed, and confident, Richard’s shining bearing immediately drew my full attention. I had a very deep impression on him since then. After I joined FYTC as a member, whenever I saw Richard, he always wore friendly smile on his gentle face. All these years, he devoted himself into Toastmasters for developing personal growth, as well as helping others. His speeches with various educational, informative, and inspiring topics, always impressed and enlightened me a great deal. He was a person of great self‐cultivation and noble‐minded character. In my mind, Richard was a person of versatile aspects ‐‐ He was sometimes solemn, yet sometimes humorous. That’s why I always adore, love, and respect him very much. In 2003, when he was the Committee Chair of Fall Conference, he chose me as his secretary. I was still new with Toastmasters business at that time, but I opened up my eyes to witness what a great leader in Toastmasters was like. I made the meeting minutes bilingually for the committee meetings. He always gave me positive and encouraging comments. In 2010, when he was the CEO of Spring Conference, he asked me to be the secretary again, I turned him down due to my personal busy schedule. I felt sorry to him within. Unfortunately, before long he resigned the CEO job because of his personal reason. Then he was absent from Toastmasters quite a few months due to his personal affairs. In his letter to us, he said he was in a “chaotic and terrible situation”. We tried our best to contact him and help him, but all failed for almost one year. Now, all of a sudden, the worst news hit us. What an unbearable loss to all of us. One significant episode all TEATC members would definitely remember and appreciate forever is that Richard was the great savior to TEATC. He accepted the President job at the most critical and difficult time, and he created the world’s unique meeting style – impromptu meeting way. This makes TEATC the ONLY club having this meeting style in all Toastmasters clubs around the world. We are so proud of Richard, and we would like to be happily following his step to keep this tradition for generations to come. Richard, a friend, brother, guide, navigator, teacher, and mentor, will live in my heart forever and ever. Richard, we love you, and we miss you. |
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