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I had a friend named Dwayne Thursby... |
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Written by Joe Rinehart
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Saturday, 23 September 2006 |
I had a friend named Dwayne Thursby who touched my heart and helped guide my soul!
Last night Friday, September 22 2006 I enjoyed the opportunity to host the Kent State University Linux users club at my office in Ravenna, Ohio. A life-long friend Roy Skellenger came and of course our usual fare was reflecting on old times and friends we shared along the way and Dwayne Thursby's name was brought up and I learned he committed suicide a couple of years ago. Gee whiz, he'd was the last guy I could have thought would do something so permanent with such disregard for life and any of the influences he may have contributed.
After we left the office I took Roy to visit another long time friend Jim to have a few beers and talk about Dwayne and with enough beer, how we could make a difference in the World.
Roy told me about the service they had for Dwayne at a place called the Spiral Oak tree in Akron, Ohio which is a 300 year old tree that Native Americans used for a landmark and meeting place. Several years ago, I had an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and consultant friend Skip Watson who's friends used the same tree for his service. I didn't go to his service either, but have been to the tree several times and was introduced to it as a very spiritual place. I think I'd like to have my friends meet there and say a prayer when my time comes, for me to meet and reunite with those that preceded me.
Dwayne and I used to both do work for a company called Interactive Multimedia Publishers (IMP) in 1994-95. We'd talk for hours outside in the plaza of the building located in Highland Square suburb of Akron, Ohio. Most of our discussions were to the effect "Wouldn't it be cool, if... a company like IMP could share it's resources to the public" and from those discussions we both pursued researching and developing "public Internet access". I developed a community project at the time called "The Akron Area Internet Directory" and he went on to establish the first cyber cafe attempted in NorthEast Ohio at that time!
He called me during his startup period and asked if I would mind if he used the name "coffee Configurations" due to config being a registered trade name which I've used since 1994. I was flattered and told him to have "No fear" and was honored. Hell, it might even get us both some exposure.
Dwayne invited me over to see what he did when he opened up for business on a main intersection of the University of Akron and told me that Road Runner cable was sponsoring his Internet connections. Well, I wasn't crazy about him using Road Runner at the time for reasons beyond the scope of this writing, but I WAS INDEED impressed that he pulled it all off and in such a manner to get such a big company like a cable one behind it.
In any regard, the venture ended up failing after a year or so, due to a particular financial issue over about $3,000 with his biz partner who owned the building, which he telephoned me about at the time. We talked and he informed me what he was wanting to do with his life to move on and ahead...
He was planning to sell his house in Akron, and just take some time off to travel around the World for awhile. Not to blow money, but rather travel conservatively, because, he planned to take the money he had left over upon his return to buy some property in Belize South America. He went on to explain to me that he learned there was a growing number of people that did have resources who were investing in undeveloped land for real cheap for the sole purpose of preserving the Rain Forest! He was very serious about it and I thought at the time he was nuts, but with the feeling one could admire something like that more than someone that would do nothing at all.
You see Dwayne was a go-getter. It wasn't the level of financial success that I admired for him, but the fact that he did what he wanted and with a goal of making a difference by just doing something about it! Whatever it was, be it a cyber cafe, or preserving a few acres of Rain forest.
It's a hard thing for me to explain to people that I do what I do with my business and in life to pursue socially oriented projects, that it's not about the money. Sure, it takes money to make many things happen and certainly on some scales it's required. Dwayne would have understood clearly what is meant when I use that phrase "it's not about the money" because we talked about how we could make things happen and could use the money we should gain to do it even better. This is why we didn't fear starting our businesses without having much to start with, and didn't hold the attitude "I can't" because I don't have resources enough, but rather "I can", and here's how we can get the resources!
I sit here at a loss of understanding as to why. He had a good job with Microsoft, and surely had friends who cared about him, when he decided to just quit life with a few anti-depressants and pull of a trigger. It never makes any sense, does it?
I'll miss Dwayne and the influence he had on me to pursue projects that could help make life just a little better somewhere for someone. If he only knew how much has already been achieved by his logical discussions of developing a socially conscientious company with me.
We all truly have the ability to make differences and I suspect sometimes we just don't realize what or how we are doing it at all! I regret with streaming tears that I'll never have a chance to tell him how much he guided me through the many things I have managed to find myself and my company involved in some small or large capacity that help so many people on a daily basis worldwide.
I pray G-d understands this in judgement of his soul, as he helped guide mine!
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 15 June 2008 )
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