Not My Funniest Post - My Eulogy for "Wonder"

Let's start with this premiss; A person you only spent a few nights in a pub with, neither of you speak the same language but for whatever reason you cared about them, but then suddenly he or she dies. If you were asked to give a eulogy could you do it? I wasn't sure if I could but then I thought, "at least give it a try you owe him that". As most of you who will read this never got the chance to meet Wonder I will tell you what he means to me.

The first time I walked into the pub in Hybe and saw Wonder sitting at a table about to do a shot of Vodka, his cheeks, red from the cold. After a few minutes Kate started to introduce me to everyone in the place. Since there were less than 15 people I would say "ahoj" to them, so that they can see I speak a little Slovak. When I got to Wonder he stood up and I felt to I was looking at gentle giant. When I saw his hair I understood why everyone called him Wonder. He has what can only be described as a wavy/curly fro. Or picture what would happen to a guy like this if he stuck a fork in an electrical socket for a few seconds. I will miss that hair.

But the hair wasn't the whole package, his face was what brought it all together. He had expressive eyes but he keep them half closed most of the time. My theory is he wanted to be able to keep an ear on what was going on. Or he could have been ready to pass out. You know those two can look so similar sometimes. But when he did talk his facial expressions alone could tell the story. I would say something to him in English and I don't know if he ever understood a word I was saying. He would then look at me and get a big grin on his face and then say something in Slovak and then laugh. I would then start to laugh with him to try and figure out what kind of laugh it was. There are many kinds of laughs, I will give you a few examples; The evil maniacal laugh, a laugh that says "I am going to get you so drunk you will wet your pants." it wasn't that one nor was it the foreboding fun laugh, you know the one you would use before taking you to Las Vegas for some "Fun". It was a combination of the two which turned out to be the "Don't worry, we are only going to get you a little drunk and have fun right here." kind of laugh. I will miss that laugh.

The thing I will miss the most is the sense of peace I felt being around him. He had an air about him that told you he was different. He was a person others liked to be around. You could not help but like him. I will take solace in the fact I was lucky enough to meet him.

Wonder, you will be missed but you will not be forgotten.