I won't pretend like I was one of Marcus' best friends. In fact, I really didn't know him that well up until the end of February- after he died.1
Marcus was one of those charismatic guys that everyone liked. He was tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was the kicker of the football team and had aspirations of trying out for the Dallas Cowboys. Everywhere he went he wore this huge smile on his face and he talked to anyone who would let him. If you walked into the cafeteria with a scowl on your face, Marcus would yell "Hey, hey you! SMILE!" from wherever he was sitting. If you were sitting by yourself and Marcus hadn't picked a spot yet, quite often he'd sit by you and just talk. If you were in the weight room and needed a spotter, Marcus gladly offered to help you out. He'd even write you a workout program if you wanted him to.2
I'd talked to him a few times. Each time I told myself that I had to get to know Marcus better. He seemed like a great guy.3
But I never got that chance.4
Our campus awoke to a bright and sunshiny February morning on Monday the 23rd. I remember walking to the cafeteria with a smile on my face, just enjoying the beauty of an unusually mild winter morning. I sat down to breakfast with a few of my friends. We were chatting of general things when my friend Christina came to the table, sat down and sighed.5
"It's not going to be a good day," she said.6
"Why do you say that? Do you have a lot of homework or something?" I asked.7
"I guess one of the football players died this weekend," she said.8
"Who was it?" I asked again, a little bit scared. I have two cousins on the team.9
"Marcus Manny?" she said. "I don't really know him, but yeah a bunch of the football players in my class were crying..."10
It's hard to describe what I felt at that point. Shock was one of the emotions, but it didn't really feel real yet. How could Marcus be gone? I had talked to him only a week ago. I went to my morning class as normal, with just a bit of disbelief settling into my stomach.11
But reality soon came when I went to chapel that morning. Instead of the usual upbeat background music, sad piano arrangements were playing. Some students sat looking at the ground, tears streaming from their eyes. Others were asking each other what was going on. I took my seat and tried to swallow the lump growing in my throat as the campus pastor approached the platform. At his words "I regret to inform you that Marcus Manny passed away in a car accident last night," reality hit me full force. All of the sudden a lead weight dropped on my chest and my stomach was full of sand. The cheery 23 year old I had talked to a week ago was gone, he was really gone. Tears stung my eyes as I learned the reason for his accident. He had been texting while driving. Our very last conversation the week previous was about how my pet peeve was people texting while driving. When Marcus smiled and said "I do that," I told him to stop because he could kill himself or someone else. How true those words proved to be. 12
I remember heading to choir after chapel that day. We were working on tour music and this year one of our songs was "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need". The lyrics in the song took on a whole new meaning and I could hardly keep the tears from falling in torrents. I hate crying in front of people.13
Thursday that week was Marcus' Campus Memorial service. During the service there was a sharing section where students could get up and share different stories they remembered about Marcus. It was absolutely mind blowing the impact one young man had on an entire college campus and beyond. People from all different social groups had something to remember from Marcus. For one girl, it was the smile he always wore and how he took time out of his busy day to talk to her when she was just a high school student working in the cafeteria. For members of the football team, it was Marcus' attitude on the field. Marcus could have royally missed a field goal, and he'd run off the field smiling. When asked why he was smiling, he'd simply say "I'm playing the game." On rough days in practice, Marcus was known to remind his teamates to smile. He'd even had an impact on my mom. She's a sports photographer and he'd talk to her during and after games.14
Marcus had a huge dedication to his family. He was constantly making the trip back to Texas to see his family over the weekends. He always made sure to tell his parents and his brother that he loved them. It was on his way back to school from home that he died. 15
As I listened to the stories from other students and remembered my own, I grew to greatly admire this man even more. It caused me to look at my own life. How many times had I come off the track or the course pissed because I didn't run a good time instead of being grateful that I could even run in the first place? Too many. How many times had I told my parents, siblings and friends that I loved them? Too little. I decided that night that it was time to make some changes in my life.16
I want to live like Marcus did. Seeing the potential in each day and each person I meet, smiling the whole way through.
Author notes
I miss him. Marcus Manny 1985-2009
And my option would be a special friend.
A contest entry
- Who has made a positive influence in your life? Winner gets one month gold! by Kari.
450 points, ended June 7, 9 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next story in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 16 of 16
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Nicely written: Heartfelt and warm. Good writing.
beginning: 5, language: 5, plot: 5, ending: 5, dialog: 5, characters: 5.
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Sorry it's taken me so long to reply, I was away from my computer working at a summer camp. Thank you so much for the applause and the wonderful comment!
-Liz
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A great storyline.
Outstanding descriptions which flow full of emotions and feelings.
Good choice of characters.
Well done -
This is so terrific!!!
I feel the tense loving emotion in this story. My favorite line (paragraph 14): "It was absolutely mind blowing the impact one young man had on an entire college campus and beyond."
I love your voice and the way your character speaks. GOOD JOB!
Congratulations on the gold trophy, by the way!
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Gosh. I feel your pain.
This reminds me of an incident 5 years ago. My friend who was the driver was writing an SMS text too when he lost control of the maneuvering and nearly caused the car to hit a tree- thank God for another friend who sat in the front seat beside him- she was quick enough to hold onto the steering wheel and swerve the car back to the right direction.
I'm grateful that nothing unfortunate happened to us that day. I'm sorry to hear about Marcus. And I'm sorry too to hear that you lost a good friend.
I cheer you on to create the awareness that people need. Because many of us don't realize that sometimes, we just need to sit and think and ask ourselves- do I want to overlook this so-called 'little' actions or be serious enough about them to understand the consequences that they can incur? How much do I really value my life? And how much do my loved ones value my life even more than I do- and the very least I can do to sincerely want them to be happy and return the love they give is to learn how to value my life as much as they do..
Thank you for sharing.
Blessings, Ame
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I cried while reading this! First time since I joined this web site and it really changed me. Well done just sad but well done.
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Sad,
This is the first time I ever cried reading a story. -
Aw, this is so very sweet. I love it.
Thanks for your entry.
Kari -
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Thank you! And thank you so much for the gold! God Bless! -Liz
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There are so many people in our lives who touch ours lightly, almost like a paintbrush...sometimes too lightly and not long enough. I can see that Marcus was such a person. A very touching story. Very. Thanks for entering and I wish you all the best.
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Thank you so much! Have fun judging the contest.
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Aww, that's so sad! I'm sorry about Marcus!
He seemed a great guy, and definately an optimist! -
Marcus sounds like he was an amazing person whom was taken way too soon. The way you have written about him shows me he must have been a sweet person. I have a couple friends who text message when they drive also. My girlfriend has even been known to do it and it really scares me. It's so hard to focus on what you're doing if your text message and driving.
Marcus sounded like he had such a positive attitude too. I've noticed that by being around positive people they do tend to influence you. I use to be pretty negative on a lot of things but I try not to be now and that's thanks to a couple of my friends. This is a really sweet and heartfelt write. Marcus would be proud of you (((Hugs)))
~Joann
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Thanks so much Joann! He was pretty awesome. Yeah, I'm harping on all of my friends to stop with the texting and driving thing since this happened. I don't want to go through it again!
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I'm sure writing about this has helped you. Glad I enetred your contest beacuse I probably wouldn't have read your work, and I think I can learn from you. I will read more..
I think you will make this story great and it's already a wonderful tribute to a special person.
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Thank you so much. Marcus truly was a special guy. I learned so much about loving life from him. Thanks again and thanks for entering my contest! Good luck!
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