Passing of a Good Friend

I'm so sad. I will miss my good friend, Darin Patch, very much. We studied together for about four years while I was studying engineering. We also worked together at L-3 Communications for a couple of years. I think Darin, Greg and I went out to lunch almost everyday. The three of us were very close. We were also good family friends. Brooke and I always had a good time with Darin and Lisa. I've copied his obituary below:

"Darin Ronald Patch 1977 ~ 2008 Darin Ronald Patch died on March 31, 2008 from lung cancer. Darin was born August 15, 1977 to Robert Allen Patch and Marilynn Blackhurst, and grew up in Pleasant Grove, Utah. He accomplished a great deal in his short time here including service as an LDS missionary to England-Birmingham, pursuing his education to a Masters of Engineering from the University of Utah, marrying his best friend, and for a brief time, being a great father. Darin, his wife, Lisa Weaver, and son Conlin resided in Salt Lake City. Although Darin insisted he not be portrayed as "perfect", we will remember Darin for his humility, quiet strength and willingness to lend help where needed. Darin found great enjoyment in his work for L-3 Communications Systems West. He spent his free time backpacking and hiking with his family and updating his old house. Darin is survived by his parents; his wife and son, and siblings. Darin was adored by his brothers and sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews. Funeral Services will be held 11 a.m. on Thurs., April 3, 2008 in LDS Ward Building, 453 S. 1100 E., Salt Lake City. A memorial fund for Darin's son has been established in the name of Darin Patch and donations can be made at any Washington Mutual location."

My heart goes out to Lisa and Conlin. Darin was a very dedicated husband. Lisa really was his very best friend, and he was loyal and loving to her. Greg and I gave him a fair amount of grief from time to time, but I was always impressed by his true devotion to Lisa.

Here are just some of the things that I'll miss about Darin:

• Always having someone to do my homework for me.
• Making fun of him for making up "statistics" to back him up every time he was losing a debate.
• Laughing until I was crying, my guts were hurting, and my drink was squirting out of my nose at Darin and Greg arguing (about anything) at lunch.
• Having someone to call "The Transient" (he kept that goofy hair, despite constant ridicule from us, just because Lisa said she liked it).
• Having him around to talk to about personal kinds of things that you wouldn't just tell anyone.
• His friendship.

Above all, I'll miss that perfect group of three guys that we had. It was the perfect dynamic to make every single struggle or problem just seem funny and irrelevant. We had so much fun together. We gave each other so much crap!

It's been hard to see him have such a struggle lately. This was the first time that it just wasn't funny or irrelevant, no matter how much we wanted it to be. Greg and I have had a hard time watching our friend be in pain, and for once, not be able to make it better. Greg has tried to be as helpful as possible. I'm useless, because I'm unavailable to help, and that has been hard for me. I've wanted to call him all the time, but I've restrained myself because I wanted to give him his space. I haven't wanted to be intrusive, or irritating by constantly asking him how he was doing. I already knew how he was doing. I may have been relatively quiet, but I cared a great deal. Greg and I talked about his status almost every week. I wanted to talk to him one more time before he passed, but I didn't get the chance. I just wasn't very sure how to approach him. I already regret that.

~~Goodbye Darin, I'll miss you very much.