A VERY PERSONAL ENTRY-- GOODBYE JOHN EDMUND DIDRIKSEN

Our City lost one of its fine citizens and I lost a precious friend. Life will never be quite the same for me with John Didriksen gone. There is a large group of people, friends and family, thinking the same thing because we said goodbye to John today.

With the possible exception of President Clinton, I've never known anybody with more talents than John. He was just "scary good" at a vast array of things.

He was also a world class needler. He could tease with the skill of Don Rickles but the gentleness of Mother Theresa. As great a needler as he was, I never once heard him say anything intentionally hurtful. There was always a little grain of truth in his needling, something that would help the subject improve. If you listened closely, you could hear a natural teacher in his needling.

He constantly found ways to let his friends and family know they were appreciated. It is an unusual thing for a man to tell another male friend "I appreciate you." or "I enjoy the time we spend together.", but not for John. He was a totally natural person, without pretense or need to act macho. If he didn't show his appreciation in words, he did it with his skilled hospitality.

He and Martha raised two great young adults and he had to bury one of them just three weeks ago. If you doubt that life's not fair, consider that. John fought cancer valiantly for four years. He buried his precious daughter and then still fought to stay alive for, among other reasons, his wife and family, in their grief, needed him. I cannot imagine the pain he bore while making that fight. He left us at age 62, far too young and too soon.

Damned if I know what the message is all of this. My heart aches for his family. All of us who loved him are dealing with loss as well. We can't all be as talented as John but we can aspire to be as open as he was to those he loved and to remind them how much they mean to us. That's a start.

Thank you, my friend, for our time together and the example you set. They didn't come any better.