EULOGY
Posted on Mar 17, 2002
in Eden, Star Trek by stoff
My eulogy to Eden
I’d like to take a minute to explain to everyone a little about Star Trek and what it meant to Eden.
Star Trek, and Trekkies, are usually considered very techie, asocial and geeky. And although that description may fit Trekkies like myself, it didn’t fit Eden. Eden was more into the human and social part of Star Trek and the always present “message” of the show. During it’s 600+ episodes, Star Trek has dealt with basically every human and social problem there is – everything from politics, racism to sexuality. And they’ve not been preaching what is right and wrong, but instead let it up to the audience to decide for themselves. Before I met Eden, this part of Star Trek had gone unnoticed by me. But he constantly came up with weird Star Trek influenced questions like “what is life”, “define love”, “what qualifies as intelligence”… Edens gift to me, Star Trek-wise, was to force me to think along those lines, and not just watch the show but actually use my intellect.
Eden really loved Star Trek, from when he cried like crazy if he didn’t get a Spock action figure when he was a kid to just three
weeks ago when he was sitting in my couch talking about the latest Star Trek episode, he lived Star Trek. So when planning
this whole thing, it seemed fitting to do it as Star Trek inspired as possible. Because if I had to put a lifestyle or religion on him, it’d be Star Trek.
But there was one philosphy in Star Trek he couldn’t live by – non-involvement.
He loved to get involved, create a stir and to just take the opposite side of whatever you were talking about. He didn’t do it to offend or tick anyone off – he just wanted people to think and use their minds, not give the standard or political correct answers. He hated people who just said what they were suppose to, so he argued to make them think for themselves. Although I considred this a good trait, it was often mistaken as something negative. The people who didn’t knew him may have thought he was a bit arrogant, wise-guy, know-it-all nitpicker. He loved to point out other peoples wrongs and to brag how much he knew, so therefor it took a special kind of person to become friends with him. I’m sure all of his friends have some funny story how they became friends with Eden. Mine is that I was exactly like him – nitpicky and bragged how much I know. So I picked up the gauntlet to take his arguments and we spent hours trying to break eachother in “who knows most about the least important thing in the world”. That might have ended in a verbal war between us, but instead we teamed up to become the dynamic duo of useless information.
That’s how our friendship started. And when he got a job up here in Stockholm, but didn’t have any place to live, he crashed at my place for about 6 months. And during that period of trials and tribulations we got to know each other so well and I look back on those 6 months as some of the best of my life.
When he did get his own place and moved out we had inevitably become great friends. And if there was something he excelled at,
it was taking care of his friends. With him, you never had to call and ask for help – he’d call you and offer his help! He bent over
backwards to help his friends, sometimes at his own expense.
So there is no doubt in my mind that I’m a better and happier person today thanks to him, and it’s with a smile on my face that I think
about him and the time I got to spend with him, the incredible original that he was. And noone can ever forget him because he made an impression on everyone he met or talked to. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good, but he always made a lasting impression.
The most pleasing thought I’d heard during the past weeks when asking “what is he doing now” is ‘” he’s probably sitting up there in heaven [or whatever you believe in] sharing a cold one with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry “. That thought always brings a smile to my face.
And I’d like to close this with something I end all my mails with – a quote. This one from Star Trek II, said my Dr. McCoy:
“He’s not really dead. As long as we remember him.”
THANK YOU
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