I've been holding this back....

...but I can't hold it back anymore...

Last week one of my best friends was killed in a head on collision with a cement truck.

The driver of the cement truck was arrested on suspicion of DWI.

Turns out he has 6 DWI's! The most recent one being 5 days before he killed my friend.

So...How does a guy with 5 prior DWIS get a job driving a cement trruck?

Here's the story...

It's been a rough week around here.

http://bransontrilakesnews.com/free/article_2fcdf028-bbeb-11e6-bf81-f3dbc14c2fa7.html

Here's My eulogy for my friend...

I used to consider myself a pretty good ping pong player...and then I met Talat. I also thought I was a pretty good pool player too...and a chess player for that matter...and then I met Talat. I could hold my own against him playing poker though but every now and again when you thought you were convinced he didn't have a hand and he was just bluffing he'd look at you with that smile of his and lay down some ridulosusly amazing cards and take your money. I hated losing to him. I used to get so mad when he'd beat me over and over and over...on my own ping pong table! But that was ok because I enjoyed his company and he always pushed me to be better. I would ask myself how does a guy from Turkey come in my house and whip up on me like that!?!

We also liked Football...well I like football and he liked Soccer. His sport was Soccer. He loved his Turkish soccer team. When we lived down the street from each other i'd go down to his house and he was always watching some Turkish soccer match on the internet that he had to subscribe to because of course you can't get Turkish football here on ESPN. I'd always ask him who was playing and he'd try to explain but I didn't care...I can't stand soccer. And whenever he saw me watching a football game he'd ask me who was playing and i'd explain and he'd ask me if they were good but he didn't really care either. He knew my favorite team was The Broncos and I knew his favorite team was BESIKTAS and that's all that mattered. Eventually I stopped looking at Talat as a guy from Turkey that I work with and just simply my friend Talat... and the more I got to know him over the years and the more time that I spent with him the more I realized how genuinly good of a person he was and how much I really liked hanging out with him. 

I've met a lot of people in the 16 years that I have lived here and Talat was simply one of the best. He was kind, thoughtful, funny, compassionate, and he really cared about people. None more than his own family. He loved You Madissa, He loved you...Isaac... very very much, and he loved his family and friends. He also loved his country...both of them. I rememeber how proud he was when he got his U.S. citizenship. Once he got that there was no stopping him. Talat always had a plan. His most recent of the many plans he had..."I'm going to open my own restaurant and you're going to work for me! We're gonna sell Shish-ka-bobs and Turkish food and i'm going to cook and you're going to serve the food I cook ok?!" Ok Talat... well I sure hope the folks around here dig shish-ka-bobs and Turkish food or we're gonna be in big trouble. It didn't matter though, with his positive attitude and constant drive to be successful I know he would have made it work and he would have succeded.

Talat was always thinking of a way to better himself and his family. He always wanted to give them the best life he could. His smile was infectious, his attitude was contagious, and his contant will to succeed was inspirational. When a person like Talat is taken from you so tragically and so suddenly you question the WHY? There is no WHY? There is no excuse. There is no explanation that makes any sense. Talat was at the wrong place at the wrong time and fell victim to the senseless selfishness of another. I can't even try and wrap my head around it. It's just a shitty part of life.

Now....when I think of Talat I think back to a personal time in my life not long ago..It was right after my son moved to Italy and I was super bummed out and depressed. He was hanging out with me talking to me about it and as sad as I was I just remember him looking at me with that infectious, caring smile of his and telling me with that Turkish accent...."It's all gonne be ok Nate...he will come back to you" and eventually he did....I only wish I could say the same to all of you. Talat was a good guy...he was just a GOOD guy. I wish I would have met him sooner and known him longer. Talat was my co-worker, my neighbor, and my friend and I will miss him very much. In his honor let's all try to be just a little more GOOD and once the sadness of his loss subsides let's all try and smile a little more. I think he would want that. Thank You to his family for sharing Talat with all of us here and I give you all my deepest heartfelt condolences.

Rest In Peace my Turkish Brother AND GO BESIKTAS!!!!