Rest in Peace Dante

Job 1:21
He said," Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."

Last week on January 31, 2006 my friend I had gone to school with died. Dante Jacuzzi came to Walnut Valley in I think 2nd grade, we of course were not friends until about 6th grade. Before then we were both normal kids that of course did not have friends of the opposite sex. After 8th grade both he and I left, I went to Parkview and he went to Catholic, he returned his senior year to Walnut Valley and I did not.

He was crazy to say the least. I remember in 6th grade there was a boy who had a crush on me and Dante prank called me one night acting like he was him and asked me out. I had the hardest time refusing him and tried to avoid him the next day, but he came up to me and told me that we had both been pranked by Dante and another guy. I could not help but laugh even though I felt really dumb. I guess it would have been worse if I had liked him and not refused the offer.

Dante always was the class clown and many times he got away with it. On top of his clowning around the boy was a genius. When most of us took Latin and struggled through it, he was striving and also taking a Greek class. This was only 7th grade. I remember he was a favorite of that teacher and she had something against me. He helped with the plays that she put on and I clearly remember he was helping with the sewing of the costumes for the play "Little Women" and probably others. Doing "girl's work" did not scare him and he would walk around with cloth he had been working with draped on his shoulder sometimes. He would proudly proclaim that he was helping with the sewing. The boy was a jack of all trades and probably a master of many of them too.

He was a great friend while the other boys were very reserved about being friends with girls, Dante had many, he could be our friends without liking us and being awkward with us. This is not a feat most teen boys can claim.

I remember in 6th grade he had tried to skate down his slide and came in the next day with a broken wrist or arm, and I had to help him fill in the bubbles for some sort of standardized test or something like that. Yes Dante was a daredevil nothing was out there that could cause him fear. He loved skating so much, most of the time he would mimic skate tricks in his shoes, rather than walk like the rest of us, Dante would perform his skate moves no matter where he was.

I remember him being very proud of his bodily functions and flat out killing the rest of us in Mr. Chambers class. Windows would have to be opened because it just lingered.

The last time I saw Dante was a year and a half ago at the Greek Food Festival. I was always glad to see him and learn a little of what he had been up to.

I don't know what choices Dante made in his life. I do not know if he is resting with the Father right now. I pray that he is and I will see him again some day. But I rest in the fact that God planned out his days before he made him and his heart only beat the number of times it was supposed to and ultimately His will has been done.

I do wonder how we are to have hope when we do not know if the person is in heaven. If we know they are in hell then we can not hope at all and it truly is a time for mourning because they have been lost permanently and there is no turning back for them. We can have hope knowing that our eternity is secure but that does not help as far as grieving the person. I pray that through his death others would be touched by their own mortality and humbly fall at Christ's feet.