I have one more post to make today, and I'm afraid it has to be a sad one. But the sad moments are part of our lives, too, and deserve to be remembered just like the happy ones.
David's best friend, David Childs (hence the title of this entry), passed away a couple of weeks ago. He was only 32, in the prime of his life, healthy, fit, and living a good life. He was at the gym with his long-time girlfriend during their lunch hour when he began to complain that he was feeling dizzy. This was nothing new, as he was known for sometimes lifting a good bit more weight than he probably should have. Normally he would shake it off after a few minutes and be fine. But not this time. He collapsed, unconscious, on the floor of the gym.
He was rushed to The Medical Center, in Columbus, where they diagnosed him with a ruptured brain aneurysm. They flew him by Life Flight up here to Emory University Hospital, where they discovered he had a 20+ mm tear in one of the veins in his brain. 4 mm is considered large. They tried to repair it with a coil, but it was too large. His brain was swelling from the trauma, so all they could do was wait for it to stop. Surgery wouldn't be an option until it did. He was responding to stimuli on his left side, but not his right, which led them to believe he had had a stroke, also.
He was in the ICU for at least a week, and then they moved him to his own room to wait out the swelling. While there, as many people do, he contracted pneumonia. They began treatment, and he was responding well to it, but it was just too much for him. He died on February 23rd, 2007 with his girlfriend, his parents, and 12-year-old daughter by his side. He was buried the following Tuesday, February 27th.
This has hit my David very hard. It's difficult for him to make friends, and DC was a good one. Probably the best friend he'd had in years. On the day of his funeral, David stayed home so he could drive down there, but at the last minute he got called in to work. Having an IT job can suck like that. I started to get mad that they would call him in when they knew he had stayed home for a funeral, but I really can't. The production people wouldn't have known why he was home. And even if they called his boss first, he is the only guy there who can do his job, so what else could they do? Having system problems means that customers can't access their accounts, which means unhappy customers, which means potentially lost revenue, which can cascade into worse problems. So when the boss calls, you listen. So he had to miss the funeral. He brooded about it for quite a while. If we get the chance to go down there soon, I'm going to suggest we go by the cemetery to visit so he can say his goodbyes.
So in closing, I want to share DC's obituary with you, and his picture. I've deleted some locational information, but left most of it intact.
I can't say I ever had the pleasure of meeting him in person, but I talked with him on the phone quite a bit after we moved, and I feel like I know him through my David and the stories he used to tell me.
Jonathan David Childs, you will be sorely missed.
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Jonathan David Childs July 31, 1975- February 23, 2007 CATAULA, GA— Jonathan David Childs, 31, of Cataula, Ga., died at Emory Hospital Friday, February 23, 2007. Mr. Childs was born July 31, 1975, son of Mike Childs and Vicky Owens Childs. He was a special child who created love and happiness for everyone around him. David played soccer for the Columbus Youth and United Soccer Club in Columbus, the Georgia and Regional O.D.P. (Olympic Development Program) and was a field goal kicker for Shaw High School. He was also a Computer Programmer Analyst at TSYS for many years. While he had many interests in life, David's one true passion was being a dad to his daughter, Taylor. His highest goal was to ensure she lacked for nothing. His enduring spirit, passion, joy and love will be missed by his family and close friends; however, he leaves an abundance of memories that will be cherished forever by us. David was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Joe Childs and Clara Russell, and a brother, Patrick Ryan Childs. Survivors include his parents, Mike and Vicky Childs of Cataula; a daughter, Taylor Childs of Columbus, Ga.; two siblings, Michael Childs, Jr. of Phenix City, Ala., and Rhonda Childs of Cataula, Ga.; fiance, Teri R. Skinner and her children, David Alexander Langley and Ralph Christian Skinner, III, all of Phenix City, Ala.; maternal grandparents, Clifford Owens, Martha Holloway and her husband, Ralph; three nephews and one niece, Brandon, Alyssia, Joshua, and Nicholas Childs; several uncles, aunts, cousins and close friends. 
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