Greetings all,
To those of you who don't know me please know this, Raul was a brother to me as much as my sisters were. I consider Henry, Scott, and Pablo my family and closer than friends. Eddie, even though he's my cousin he is much more. Tony and Sue are the cool, younger godparents that Raul and I always wanted. There are others that I've known for many years like Jeff, Karin, Gordon and Jay (Andrew) but Raul and I had a special connection.
Raul saved my life.
I mean that literally and figuratively. One day on vacation, I decided to jump in a pool without actually knowing how to swim. I still don't know actually. Well, there was no lifeguard that day so Raul had to jump in and save me. I almost took him down with me as I swallowed water, he then decided to shove me towards the side of the pool. 3 shoves later, I was pulling myself out of the pool. I owe my life to Raul.
He was always at my side through thick and thin. When my dad died, when we put my cat to sleep, every Christmas, Thanksgivings, birthdays, graduations, cutting high school, picking up girls... you name it. Without Raul and others there helping to guide my life who knows where I would have ended up.
Lastly, I want to discuss his infectious laugh only because I have to. You all remember his laugh, but honestly after 22 years I sometimes cringed.. it was like those old married couples who are so used to each other. You see, at times Raul used that laugh to avoid being serious when he needed to be.. it was his defense mechanism. Very few of us ever saw Raul being geniunely serious, sad or pissed off (which Eddie had a knack for in spades to piss Raul off... remember the chicken nuggets?). I would like to continue typing but I can't so I'll finish off quickly.
I love you Raul.
Marc Irizarry
5 comments:
What a beautiful tribute, Marc. Lysa gave me the bad news, and I am heartbroken. I wish I could be there, but we now live too far off. Please know that my thoughts will be with all of you in the coming days, months, years. What can I do? Tell me and it's yours.
-Robyn Hansen from Icon (and Doug and baby Ella, too)
dulcinea4@hotmail.com
I had the pleasure of meeting Raul only afew times but he was a great guy, and funny! I'll never forget being out in Vegas afew years back with him eating at a buffet. The lines were so long, and once we get up to the front, Raul says "Seinfeld 4!". We were almost crying from laughing so hard, I'm laughing just thinking about it now...You'll be missed man!
-Joe Staub
Hello Everyone,
I just found out about Raul's passing. I am sincerely sorry for your loss. I'm shocked and very sad and can only imagine how painful this has been for all of you having lost a brother, a friend. I'm sure many tears have been shed because of this tragedy but I'm sure there has been equal parts laughter just remembering stories about him. I can't think of a single time he didn't make me laugh and I witnessed the dinosaur pigeon that relieved himself all over Raul after we saw the Queen in London (think white paint & cannons going off scaring the giant pigeon). We become instant friends, I tried to recruit him back in '99 and we ending up chatting for 2 hours. I would drag him to the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre as much as he'd allow me to on the condition we stopped at the ESPN zone. We became traveling companions because he didn't think I should travel to Europe by myself after 9/11. I remember feeling like a "bad ass" going by myself but feeling secretly relieved & thankful when Raul said he was going with me (I'm sure he knew I was scared but he never called me on it). Our European tour was one of the best trip I've ever been on (other than Hawaii, which Raul refused to go on until he was married & he was right). We met some great folks, who are still our friends to this day (He was Uncle Raul to baby Ethan). Raul befriended almost everyone on our tour, he even attended a wedding a few months later of one of the couples he met on the tour. He might have been adventurous but not with his food, I remember fighting with him to eat German food in GERMANY but instead he wanted a burger, from McDonalds no less. He started a nightly hunt for McDonalds in every country we visited, he had a large group formed towards the end of the tour. I loved how he treated me like one of the guys, especially when we accidentally went to a "show" in Amsterdam that could have been embarrassing but he just turned to me & commented on how hot the girl with the banana was (sorry I'm being vague but I think you get it). Since his move for love to Florida, I hadn't heard from him much but I always knew someday I'll get an email or a call with his usual "Hey Girl" or "wassup" lines. I know now that won't happen but I do know that I was blessed to have Raul as my friend. I was always amazed how he could talk to just about anyone and seemed to genuinely like everyone, I wish I had that gift. I have missed and will always miss him, even his infectious laugh. Thank you again to Karin and Gordon for letting me know. Thanks for letting me share & keep in touch. Sincerely sorry,
Ada Toro - Batista
Dear Raul's Family and Friends
Raul worked for me for several years fixing the computers. He would often come to my home where very little work would get done but a lot of laughing would take place. Raul went from being a worker to a friend in no time. Everyone in my family was crazy about him as was my staff. He had some the best toys on the planet. One of them he gave a ride in which I'll never forget. Are you suppose to go 90 mph in 300 ft and stop at a stop sign? Apprently Raul thought so. rsearle@searleinsurance.com
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