Remembering Charlie

Charlie deserves to be remembered. Charlie was a regular at the STAR Center / Friendly Neighborhood Center for Extreme Computing for many years. RantWoman has learned that he passed away last summer. Here are the points of remembrance RantWoman collected, verbatim in an actual I voice:

Today a  STAR Center  customer came in and among other things asked about Charlie K. Charlie lived at Center Park for many years but moved awhile ago to ID to be nearer family. Life on his own had been getting harder and harder and I was relieved to hear he was near other loved ones.

I knew Charlie is on Facebook but I have not thought to check his wall for awhile. The customer who asked about him needs to update things on her own FB but we looked up Charlie's page. Charlie's niece has posted that he passed away July 8 of this year in an assisted living facility in Boise. I am not sure what others will be able to see but there are some wonderful words from people who knew him as a person of great faith.

Charlie was famous for an interest in studying Norwegian and for taking a trip to Norway several years ago. He is also the reason that the STAR Center has the Norwegian module installed with our Duxbury braille software.

My other connection to Charlie: He was trained as a piano tuner at the Colorado School for the Blind. One day at Center Park he and I compared notes about when we lived in Gunnison CO. I am pretty sure was the blind guy who came one time to tune my family's piano!

Charlie, Rest in Peace. I know you are with God and I know you are missed!

Now, in keeping with the excursions below, a remembrance in keeping with the realities of the Friendly Neighborhood Center...  The customer who asked about Charlie used to take ESL classes. The ESL classes often featured essays about the cultural realities of life in Seattle including same-gender relationships. RantWoman remembers one particularly vigorous day of English practice with Charlie and the other customer about that topic. RantWoman remembers not particularly wanting to wade into theological differences but definitely remembers thinking the conversation was really good English practice.

RIP Charlie!

Another job readiness moment with other customer

Remembering Charlie