Tonight was the most amazing, humbling and wonderful evening I have had in so very long. Ive met so many AMAZING, loving and kind people at Reese Ramirezs memorial that words will never be enough. His family is the most amazing and loving people that remind me of my own in so so many ways and I cannot thank him enough for bringing us all together tonight. His mom Denise Michelle Ramirez and dad jimmy and his younger brother and grandma and grandpa, aunts and uncles and EVERYONE, remind me so much of my all of my California family I miss so much. I really am a Californian at heart, born and bred and the familiarity of the love shared tonight makes me miss so many of my own family in ways I cannot explain. My only heartbreak is that I could not hug him or dance with him as I so longed for for so many years. Instead I hugged each and every one of u as if it was Reese in my arms. I danced with him the only way I could and I danced for him with his aunt Dianna Vaughan . I danced in front of his photo and when I opened my eyes he was right there in front of me. I held my heart and I could feel all the love in the room. It was going to be my last chance to dance with a man,a brother, I never knew loved dancing AS MUCH as I do until I received the email from his mom on what she would like read this evening. Dancing is when Im the happiest other than sitting or hiking or kayaking slowly in nature, alone with god. Those two things fill my soul more that food and water sustain my physical being. As I sit here in this hotel room thinking and reading peoples posts and accepting so many wonderful friend requests from people that hugged me as if I was their own family... The tears build up and only one word applies... Humility. I am humbled and blessed and grateful for EVERY DAY OF LIFE I AM GRANTED. Since my sickness I now, EVERY NIGHT AND EVERY MORNING... Say a lil thank u prayer. Thank you for allowing me to have this glorious day no matter how challenging it was and then... Thank you for the gift of life and breath on this glorious morning. may this Day be full of grace and no matter what shape that grace takes I will be thankful I am alive and able to live it. Sometimes peoples passing, as well as also having a glimpse of your own, change and shape you for the rest of your life and thats EXACTLY whats happened to me this last month. Thank you Reese, thank you God and thank you everyone that was there tonight. Here is what spoke thru me last night onto paper and what I read with my heart for the first time at someones memorial. Someone I admire and respect forever for he helped shape the man you all love today... Please take a moment and get to know Reese thru the words god put thru me... Cause even in his death.. He is WAY WORTH KNOWING!!! Hello everyone. My name is Beck Bond and I know none of you know me. At least not in real life until now. When I was asked if I wanted say some words today, my initial response was probably not, but then it hit me that if there wasn’t a message I was suppose to leave, I would not have been asked. I want to share with you some things that I feel is the message I am to here to relay today.... Reese is some one that helped shape the man I am. When I begun my journey, much like Reeses, I was led down a road I was not comfortable being led down even though some of us are and thats ok, but it wasn’t me. That was taking shape in the form of having most of my mentors living what we call stealth, meaning not being out as trans to most... and in the midwest, as I am currently from MO, this is something I see far more often than on the coasts. (And for some thats is wonderful but for me it felt very very wrong and I longed for a few more diverse mentors and I found Reese and others) met Reese on Facebook as a lot us in the gender non conforming communities do these days and he, along with a few others opened my eyes to see so very much. REESE was one that gave me strength and positivity by how PROUD he was of his path no matter how painful it was at times. Reese taught me that we have gifts...NOT CURSES to be hidden behind. Reese is one of the men that I will always remmeber for teaching me I AM OK AND CAN BE PROUD THAT THE PAIN I LIVED IN, CAN BE USED TO TEACH OTHERS THAT IT IS OK TO BE LIKE US. REESE was brave and made me brave and his passing has brought me even closer to those beliefs that we shared... Reese taught me that only in being true to yourself with others can people truly see the path we walk upon and because he helped me see that... I feel PRIDE that the lil girl lost, grew up to be a strong, sensitive and loving man. Reese lived the example of how I WANT to be remembered. There are many that showed me the ropes in the beginning and I will be forever grateful for them. Yet there were few that showed me how to proudly swing from those ropes, from place to place, once I had them tightly in my hands and that by being my true authentic self...We are able to leave a trail of magic every where we go. Thats the magic Reese had in him. There is something you all should know...Reese touched people across the entire planet. I know what we have done in our short lives is hard for many to comprehend and we look to each other for support. Right now the easiest way to do that is facebook. Thats how we connect across the world and Reese took the time to mentor people like me all over the globe. He was a member of multiple facebook groups and when the news of his passing came to me I took it upon myself to copy and paste that information to ALL of the groups I am on. Those posts reached thousands and instantly the shock, support and love poured in from all over the world. One group ALONE has 3500 members. I sat last night and clicked on EVERY person that liked and commented all over the internet, to see where they are from and as I begun to write the states and countries it started to sound a lot like the Johnny Cash song... Ive been every where man... which is how I live my life... on the road. It is with gods grace I happened to be traveling in CA while it came to pass that Reese “went home” and with great pleasure I now will read you the list of the places that sent their love and support to his family, his friends and our community.... America... Almost ALL 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, The Philippians, Indonesia, Thailand, Tibet, Japan, China, South Korea, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Russia, England, Wales, Scotland, France, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, Iran, Syria, Spain,Turkey, Israel, Greece, Jordan, Romania, Poland and Brazil. So you see... We support each other everywhere and I cannot speak for Reese and whom he mentored personally, but I can and will stand here proudly and represent the online Transgender FaceBook Community that has sent their love today. Also, I contacted the only family I have met via Facebook of Reeses and now will share what they wrote and wanted shared... From his Mom and Dad... There are so many things wed like to say, but primarily the family is in awe of the support and outreach that has been received. Reese is an amazing role model for so many--far outreaching the valley. There is nothing that we could say that would be new to you, as Reese was an open book. His love for animals, his music and his community are evidenced by those who are here today--we are sharing similar memories and laughs. He would want us to dance, clap, and cheer...not mourn. Weve all seen him dance and we know he is dancing right now. Right here. Mom From his Aunt... Read her paragraph... Reese was a funny guy and when I scrolled thru his facebook posts last night, I read a post he made on August 12th and it goes to show you the type of humor he loved. It read simply, “Do you think God gets stoned? I think so... Look at the platypus!” - Robin Williams We all loved Reese and will forever be touched by his life and death. Theres a dash between the day your born and the day you pass and we all know Reese made the most out of that dash. Thank you and LONG LIVE REESE!
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 06:28:48 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015