Randy Sanders - Please Read and Share

My blog today isn't about me or one of the story lines in one of my books. It's about something we all go through in our lives, no matter how hard we try to avoid it. It's about Loss. Losing a family member or a friend, a coworker or your pet can be hard for all of us.

This morning as I went through my Facebook posting from friends everywhere, I came upon one that stopped my heart for a second. The post talked about an acquaintance of mine that I had come to think of as a friend. And it said "May he rest in peace."

This young man had made a decision to not go on with his life. As so many of us just recently were stunned by Robin Williams suicide, I was equally shocked to hear that my friend was gone. There would be no fishing in the Stick Marsh in search of that giant bucketmouth he had promised me. There would be no time spent listening to him talk about how much he loved to fish and surf, or how he loved his son, who has taken up surfing, just like his dad.

There would be nothing for me but good memories and warm feelings for this man, who had made such a good impression on me just a few years back. I owned a local fishing magazine back then and I needed somebody to write quality reports from the freshwater lakes to the west of the county. Somebody had asked me if I knew Randy Sanders. When I told him I didn't, he immediately told me to get in touch with him. I called him and convinced him that he was the guy for the job.

And he was! Randy did a great job as a reporter and forecaster. I enjoyed reading his monthly reports as much as any other guide who wrote for me. People who fished with him can tell you that he knew where the fish were hiding on most any day. He ran his boat through the lakes out west like it was his back yard, and for a time it was pretty close.

I knew him as an angler and an avid fisherman, anxious to share his knowledge with anybody. He was a good man, in my opinion. He was equally famous around here as being a beach rat. His surfing legend will live on in the campfires of the local beaches. From the outpouring of grief I've seen so far, Randy was a very loved person. He had a lot of friends and people who cared about him and will miss him dearly.

His ultimate decision will leave most of us who knew him in a quandary, but he will certainly not be forgotten here in our little section of the world. We can't judge someone unless we share their pain. I will never think of him as anything less than a person I'm proud to have met.

Please "Rest in Peace," Randy Sanders. We'll all miss you!


If you know someone who is struggling through their life, make sure that you or someone else share this link with them:

                                                www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

Please share this on your timelines if you're a Brevard or Indian River County resident.

Thank you!