Top Ten Things I Learned From Bill

10) If at first you don't succeed try, try again and then maybe try something else.

A few years back, in an attempt to further motivate his Run 'n Ride participants, Bill started time trial runs. As always, people did as Bill asked yet as the weeks passed we noticed a significant drop in attendance on Thursday mornings-the dreaded time trial day. However Tuesday mornings continued to be well attended. So Bill ditched the time trials (with no remorse for having tried them) and shortly thereafter began the now infamous "street light sprints' which continue to this day although we tend to think of them more as "pick ups" than sprints. That was the thing about Bill though. He was never afraid to try something new, nor did he dwell on the
failures.

9) Be kind.

In the 11 years I've known Bill, I never heard him say a smarmy word about anyone (discounting certain political figures, of course). He always gave people the benefit of the doubt. Even when you suspected a person might possibly rub Bill the wrong way, well Bill wasn't one to let other peoples' shortcomings negatively affect him. I have always admired his ability to think the best of people even when they proved him wrong.

8) Work to play.

I can tell you quite a bit about Bill's life. How he loved his wife and kids, his enthusiasm for Mercury Opera and other musical endeavors, as well as climbing expeditions and helping people reach and maintain fitness goals. Bill also loved a good party and every party was a good party in his book. Bill was also well read and enjoyed talking politics- especially this past year! Yet the only thing I knew about the job that paid the bills was that early morning meetings really annoyed Bill (they interfered with his work-out) and that he did crazy things with the people he worked with too!

7) Stop and smell the roses......

and lilacs, tulips (if they had a smell) daffodils and those darn flowers in the Ellwanger Barry Garden that we have yet to correctly identify. I will deeply miss Bill's widespread arms halting us to stop and take in the scenery no matter how engaged in conversation we are. Shortly after Bill's retirement from Kodak these pauses in running became a bit more leisurely causing some concern among the still employed. Poor Joy took it upon herself to inform Bill that we could only go garden hopping once a week. Bill, being Bill, was not offended in any way. However he never stopped trying to get us to pause and take in the world around us even if it was to see what could quite possibly be a weed.

6) Birthdays with Bill Sucked.

Bills idea of celebrating birthdays was a bit sadistic. To him years lived equaled the number of push-ups endured. You do the math. The older you were the harder it was and Bill was going to ask you and the whole darn class to do them. And you know what? You did. We are definitely feeling the 62 we did today. Yeah, thanks a lot for that legacy.

4) Lead by example.

You didn't have to do the push-ups, but you did. You didn't have to cross the log over the stream with water temps hovering around 32 degrees, but you did. You didn't have to run around the Liberty Pole hanging onto that tattered garland singing "Joy to the World" at 5:45 A.M. but you did. You didn't have to run through that field of poison ivy, but you did and then you did it again AND again! Without any pep talks or cajoling Bill just made you follow him. I still don't know how he did this. Did he have some kind of magic dust? Which leads me to...

5) "No Trespassing" signs are really just an Invitation to "Come On In."

Bill interpreted warnings as a sign that people must be hiding something good beyond. "Do Not Cross" tape was merely there to run through like the ribbon at the finish line of a race. Case in point: the infamous run to see every Horse on Parade in the year 2000 including the one in the middle of interstate 490. There we are, the teacher, bakery owner, and college university administrator (please let me know if I left some other fool out), all people with master's degrees by golly, traipsing after Bill, protesting feebly that we can't afford to get arrested as we pass the sign listing the 30 or so things prohibited on the highway, number one being pedestrians. Oh but up close the colors on that horse were vibrant I tell you and well worth the tear in the running tights I sustained climbing back over the fence to safety.

3) Sleep is over-rated.

There were many theories over the years. Was Bill an alien? (I once asked to see his belly button for proof he was human, a request Bill gladly obliged.) Was Bill an android or did he just sleep at work? No one really could fathom how Bill did so much in a day with so little sleep. Someone suggested that Bill has probably organized some endeavor wherever he is now but maybe he's just catching up on some much needed sleep.

2) Be who you are.

Bill taught this to me on a daily basis. He had to do what he had to do and thank goodness because Bill's spirit of hard play, and sense of community were a blessing to countless people. I am so grateful to Deven, Jennet, Libby and James for sharing Bill with us, for allowing him to be the amazing life force that he was.

1) "It's not the years in your life but the life in your years."

Aptly I saw this quote at a Y on the day I learned of Bill's passing and thought that pretty much says it all. According to this ancient proverb Bill probably lived to be 661 years and 361 days give or take a few hundred years.

Thanks for letting me share. I love you Bill.


Linda Lopata