This note is in memory of our best employee and a very close friend: Kenny.  Wow, it...feels strange writing this, considering we spoke to him this morning, and he was doing great. Kenny has always been a devoted worker and learner, so naturally he's gotten steadily better and better at his job since he started.  He loved his job, and we loved having him.  He always came into the office in the morning with a big smile and determination for excellence -- but never at the expense of sincerity, openness, and kindness to us as well. True kindness, politeness, genuine care, and gentleness. We could see he was a great dad (single dad) to his 3 teen age boys, who reflect his character.  Even though Kenny had an incredibly difficult and regrettable history, somehow he never let it get to him.  He dealt with things head on and kept moving forward. I am really going to miss him. Unbeknown to each other, Daniel and I spent much of this afternoon crying.

Kenny conquered so many things: alcoholism, drug addiction, bad relationships, single parent difficulties, poverty, depression...  and things were looking up. His whole family testifies to "having him back" the last year and a half, and he was so happy to be "back"...back with his sons, with his siblings, with his ailing mother, with those he loved more than anyone else in the world. I remember the thing he loved doing most was spending time with his boys.  He'd schedule work off or move extra fast to finish a route early so he could go to a son's game.  He'd bring a son to work on a non-route day to see what dad did for a living and give 'em a taste of work. He was so proud of them...and they were proud of him, too.

By now I'm sure you're wondering what happened.  Well, there's really not much to tell.  Kenny was doing very well on his route today, amazing Dan with his speed and accuracy, as he had for the last week.  In fact, Dan just gave him another raise a couple days ago for it.  Right after lunch he fell over, someone called the police, who called our office. An ambulance rushed him to the hospital but he was unresponsive. They called us back to pronounce him officially gone.  That was it, so strange, so sudden, so seemingly untimely. It doesn't sink in. My mind rejects the thought.

Tonight Dan, Eddy and I drove to Kenny's house to return his car.  There were lots of family members there, all with tears in their eyes and all loving and comforting each other. They welcomed us warmly and reiterated over and over how much Ken loved his job, and how much he revived his life since he started working for us.  We shared some things we loved about Kenny, and assured them we'd be happy to do anything for them, if they needed anything. We await the funeral.  Even Eddy, as little as he comprehends the subject of death, was sad to hear that Kenny had gone away and wouldn't return. He loved Kenny as much as anyone did, and asked about him over and over on the way to his house. One of Ken's son's gave Eddy a little toy car and we wrote "Kenny" on the hood in memory.

I'm submitting a page from our company newsletter from last June.  It includes an article about Kenny. Enjoy.