I met Marcus in 1993 when we both worked at a waterpark in Irvine, CA. (Wild Rivers next to Irvine Meadows Ampitheater) Ahh the good old days. He became a close friend during that period of time in my life and we hung out pretty often. From sneaking into concerts at Irvine meadows to the time he bought this old beat up hippie party school bus with railings and a deck on top where people could hang out. I could see the vision and the possibilities were endless but to get that thing the way it needed to be would have cost 50K lol, think he figured it out too as he just ended up abandoning it in the Irvine meadows parking lot a few months later. I would visit him almost every weekend at a place he had with roommates in the winter in Newport beach right on the ocean. So many fun times there with him. Remember his mom passing and how distraught he was but he pulled through like the champ he was. He was a savvy salesman from the very first time I met him so no surprise he excelled in that role whenever it was needed throughout his professional career. I looked past his amway sales pitches early on…….…😊
Eventually we ended up going to Europe together and doing the eurorail thing all over for about 2 months. That trip later had real impact on my life view at times and I shared that profound learning experience with him. No cell phones just train schedules and hostel guides. (we somehow survived that trip utilizing intelligence and common sense-again the good old days) It was time for him to continue his world/surf tour so I departed for home and he continued on his journey. After we just grew apart. Not on purpose I started travelling nationwide for work, met a girl who would become my future wife, moved to Florida and can only assume the same thing for him when he got back from his trip, basically just life happens type thing. I reached out last around 2004 or so and we spoke and caught up briefly but never continued communicating after.
Multiple times through out my life I thought about reaching out and catching up but just never did. Now as I’m dealing with my own mortality and life adversity I’ve been realizing what is important and have been trying to be a better human which sometimes involves awkward conversations and reaching out to people I haven’t spoken to in 20 years. As I was starting that process looking up people to get contact info I came across this site. Needless to say I was saddened and wished I could have been just one additional support avenue amongst so many if he ever needed during the last couple years. Now knowing he unfortunately left behind a wife and daughters to face this world without him is even more disheartening as I’m facing a similar situation and know how soul crushing those thoughts can be internally so I am truly sorry and angry he had to endure that anguish. Good people do not deserve terrible things to happen to them but I believe we all unfortunately know that story doesn’t always go to plan. If any of you read this I am sorry for your loss with the utmost sincerity. Even though he is no longer among us on Earth he still managed to continue with a teaching moment. I had 20 years to try and be a better human. Don’t wait, the regret you may feel for not trying to check in with old or good friends and trying to be a solid person pales in comparison to the regret of too little too late. No doubt he would have givin me a hard time for waiting so long no matter when we spoke but I also know 2 minutes later it would have been back to like it always was. I’ll will miss you brother.
Erik
