A little life lesson...

[cto]

HoustonCuse started the thoughtful campaign to give Orangeyes’ posts more “likes” the day after he had his final major surgery (from which he never regained full consciousness). Sadly, Dan died without seeing the love expressed in that effort. His family saw it… and appreciated it. But Dan himself never saw it.

There’s a lesson here that goes far beyond “likes” on a message board from people trying to thank someone who, sadly, didn’t always feel appreciated when it would have meant something to him. (Trust me, Dan occasionally reflected on the low level of response his posts received… and wondered whether it was worth his time to do it).

I am sure Dan knew that Tomcat loved him, but I am not so sure about the rest of us (and I include myself here).

Tell people in your life (not specifically on this forum) you love them… and appreciate them…. and value them…. when they can hear you say it. Eulogies are lovely…..but they are never heard by the person who is being thanked and honored in them.

 

[AZOrange]

HoustonCuse started the thoughtful campaign to give Orangeyes’ posts more “likes” the day after he had his final major surgery (from which he never regained full consciousness). Sadly, Dan died without seeing the love expressed in that effort. His family saw it… and appreciated it. But Dan himself never saw it.

There’s a lesson here that goes far beyond “likes” on a message board from people trying to thank someone who, sadly, didn’t always feel appreciated when it would have meant something to him. (Trust me, Dan occasionally reflected on the low level of response his posts received… and wondered whether it was worth his time to do it).

I am sure Dan knew that Tomcat loved him, but I am not so sure about the rest of us (and I include myself here).

Tell people in your life you love them… and appreciate them…. and value them…. when they can hear you say it. Eulogies are lovely…..but they are never heard by the person who is being thanked and honored in them.

Oh they hear you. In the echoes of time. I have to believe that. I have to.

That said, I agree with you 1000 percent.

 

[SUfanNC]

I think that in life you always mean to let "whoever" know how much you appreciate them but unfortunately time slips away in some instances. You may assume they know but it might be worth it to make sure


I think this ties with tomcats post about dan, take time to notice how blue the sky is.

 

[orangehomer]

HoustonCuse started the thoughtful campaign to give Orangeyes’ posts more “likes” the day after he had his final major surgery (from which he never regained full consciousness). Sadly, Dan died without seeing the love expressed in that effort. His family saw it… and appreciated it. But Dan himself never saw it.

There’s a lesson here that goes far beyond “likes” on a message board from people trying to thank someone who, sadly, didn’t always feel appreciated when it would have meant something to him. (Trust me, Dan occasionally reflected on the low level of response his posts received… and wondered whether it was worth his time to do it).

I am sure Dan knew that Tomcat loved him, but I am not so sure about the rest of us (and I include myself here).

Tell people in your life you love them… and appreciate them…. and value them…. when they can hear you say it. Eulogies are lovely…..but they are never heard by the person who is being thanked and honored in them.

this post reads as a bit of a reprimand. I think people on this board have made it as clear as possible how they felt about orangeyes. I'm not sure what your point is.

 

[cto]

If it were a reprimand, I included myself among the reprimandees.

Dan frequently asked me ... whether it was worth his time to compile those aggregated posts every day. He thought hardly anyone was reading them,,, because among the 200-300 or so views, there were generally no responses. And hardly ever a "like"

Reading the out-pouring of love since Dan died, I could not help but remember those conversations.

Many of the people mourning Dan now... never acknowledged his contributions... or thanked him for them... or said they loved him... while he was here. That was my point... in discussing a larger truth... the need to appreciate people when they can know you appreciate them. It had nothing to do with message boards. It had to do with life... and the people in your life.

Maybe sometimes the truth hurts.

 

[RF2044]

this post reads as a bit of a reprimand. I think people on this board have made it as clear as possible how they felt about orangeyes. I'm not sure what your point is.

THAT'S your interpretation of CTO's post? Oh Lord

And you felt the need to post that in light of recent events?

 

[orangefog]

this post reads as a bit of a reprimand. I think people on this board have made it as clear as possible how they felt about orangeyes. I'm not sure what your point is.

Dude, it is an "open your damn eyes and let the people you love know you appreciate them while you still can, because you never know what tomorrow might bring" post. Quit being so argumentative and defensive. That is becoming an issue on this board in general. I really wish I had "liked" more of OE's posts, but I truly liked them all. He added so much to this board, I assumed he knew that we all held him in the highest order.

 

[Oakland]

This is a most surprising opinion post. OEs was regularly bombarded with likes and posts expressing appreciation for his efforts. These appeared every week, if not every day. I made several myself and I know many, many others did also. I'm sure his like/post ratio was extremely high even before his decline. I do agree that few responded to his dailies with content, but that is the nature of his type of post and the board's interest to response to specific subjects.

I also think that OEs comprehensive efforts to post every SU link had a counterproductive effect, in that so many links didn't add to the ones before it and thus not likely to elicit a response.

HoustonCuse started the thoughtful campaign to give Orangeyes’ posts more “likes” the day after he had his final major surgery (from which he never regained full consciousness). Sadly, Dan died without seeing the love expressed in that effort. His family saw it… and appreciated it. But Dan himself never saw it.

There’s a lesson here that goes far beyond “likes” on a message board from people trying to thank someone who, sadly, didn’t always feel appreciated when it would have meant something to him. (Trust me, Dan occasionally reflected on the low level of response his posts received… and wondered whether it was worth his time to do it).

I am sure Dan knew that Tomcat loved him, but I am not so sure about the rest of us (and I include myself here).

Tell people in your life you love them… and appreciate them…. and value them…. when they can hear you say it. Eulogies are lovely…..but they are never heard by the person who is being thanked and honored in them.

 

[capeorange]

HoustonCuse started the thoughtful campaign to give Orangeyes’ posts more “likes” the day after he had his final major surgery (from which he never regained full consciousness). Sadly, Dan died without seeing the love expressed in that effort. His family saw it… and appreciated it. But Dan himself never saw it.

There’s a lesson here that goes far beyond “likes” on a message board from people trying to thank someone who, sadly, didn’t always feel appreciated when it would have meant something to him. (Trust me, Dan occasionally reflected on the low level of response his posts received… and wondered whether it was worth his time to do it).

I am sure Dan knew that Tomcat loved him, but I am not so sure about the rest of us (and I include myself here).

Tell people in your life you love them… and appreciate them…. and value them…. when they can hear you say it. Eulogies are lovely…..but they are never heard by the person who is being thanked and honored in them.

Well said!

 

[CusefanATL]

This is a most surprising opinion post. OEs was regularly bombarded with likes and posts expressing appreciation for his efforts. These appeared every week, if not every day. I made several myself and I know many, many others did also. I'm sure his like/post ratio was extremely high even before his decline. I do agree that few responded to his dailies with content, but that is the nature of his type of post and the board's interest to response to specific subjects.

I also think that OEs comprehensive efforts to post every SU link had a counterproductive effect, in that so many links didn't add to the ones before it and thus not likely to elicit a response.

I do specifically remember 1 time that OE wondered aloud if he should continue. But then someone pointed to the number of views he received and i think he was pretty surprised by that.

I think that also served as a mini wake up call for the rest of the board to express some love for the work he was doing. People did start responding more to his links but he did put in a lot of hard work. My wife is in PR. she had to similar stuff for companies every morning - as an intern. It is tedious. This is intern type busy work that he did voluntarily to make everyone else's life a little bit better. He deserved the love he got and then some.

 

[Stevenson]

Very well said. And Joyce I know everyone here appreciates you, your contributions to the board, the basketball program and the university. I love reading your stories about traveling to and from games and your encounters with the movers and shakers. I also know first had your generosity when it comes to sharing tickets. And I'll never forget the SU attire you sent my boys when they were born. So thank you.

 

[tee1222]

HoustonCuse started the thoughtful campaign to give Orangeyes’ posts more “likes” the day after he had his final major surgery (from which he never regained full consciousness). Sadly, Dan died without seeing the love expressed in that effort. His family saw it… and appreciated it. But Dan himself never saw it.

There’s a lesson here that goes far beyond “likes” on a message board from people trying to thank someone who, sadly, didn’t always feel appreciated when it would have meant something to him. (Trust me, Dan occasionally reflected on the low level of response his posts received… and wondered whether it was worth his time to do it).

I am sure Dan knew that Tomcat loved him, but I am not so sure about the rest of us (and I include myself here).

Tell people in your life (not specifically on this forum) you love them… and appreciate them…. and value them…. when they can hear you say it. Eulogies are lovely…..but they are never heard by the person who is being thanked and honored in them.

In tears. Great post, Joyce.

 

[JarHeadJim]

This may sound morbid. I sent Dan some Flowers after his first surgery. I'm so glad I did so he would get a chance to enjoy them. He called me and thanked me for them. We had a great hour long conversation. He couldn't wait to play with coach Shafer in a Golf Tournament in June that he was not able to make it. I have never sent another man flowers before. I'm so glad I did it beacuse, I got a chance to have a great conversation with a friend that most likley would not have happened of I didn't send the flowers. My point is I'm so glad I sent them while he was alive then this week where only his family could enjoy them.

 

[Rocco]

Well said Joyce.

And to others, her post wasn't a reprimand because of a lack of likes/responses to OE's posts, but simply a reminder to tell people you love and appreciate exactly that while they are still around. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[CusefanATL]

This may sound morbid. I sent Dan some Flowers after his first surgery. I'm so glad I did so he would get a chance to enjoy them. He called me and thanked me for them. We had a great hour long conversation. He couldn't wait to play with coach Shafer in a Golf Tournament in June that he was not able to make it. I have never sent another man flowers before. I'm so glad I did it beacuse, I got a chance to have a great conversation with a friend that most likley would not have happened of I didn't send the flowers. My point is I'm so glad I sent them while he was alive then this week where only his family could enjoy them.

Cool stuff...

It is kind of funny to picture you sending another man flowers. For some reason I see you hand delivering them and kissing your biceps afterwards.

 

[Crusty]

CTO, I am really saddened to learn that Dan did not understand how highly regarded he was. I made a post earlier this year which drew many positive responses. I recall others making similar posts and replies. All I can guess is that it was his nature to undervalue his contributions. Had I understood this to be the case, I would like to think all of us would have done much more.
http://syracusefan.com/threads/my-vote-for-most-valuable-poster-orangeyes.68092/

Anyway, I called my daughter today to tell her how much I loved her and what a great daughter she is - made me feel better, so thanks.

 

[HoustonCuse]

HoustonCuse started the thoughtful campaign to give Orangeyes’ posts more “likes” the day after he had his final major surgery (from which he never regained full consciousness). Sadly, Dan died without seeing the love expressed in that effort. His family saw it… and appreciated it. But Dan himself never saw it.

There’s a lesson here that goes far beyond “likes” on a message board from people trying to thank someone who, sadly, didn’t always feel appreciated when it would have meant something to him. (Trust me, Dan occasionally reflected on the low level of response his posts received… and wondered whether it was worth his time to do it).

I am sure Dan knew that Tomcat loved him, but I am not so sure about the rest of us (and I include myself here).

Tell people in your life (not specifically on this forum) you love them… and appreciate them…. and value them…. when they can hear you say it. Eulogies are lovely…..but they are never heard by the person who is being thanked and honored in them.

Thanks for saying this. It goes to show that perspective can be everything. I'm sure 90% of the posters here are shocked and dismayed to hear Dan may not have felt appreciated for his labors because to them it was obvious that he was completely appreciated. I was always bothered that he didn't get more likes (even though, as you said, they are just a silly thing that don't amount to much more than a hill of beans).

I do suspect that the nature of Dan's amazing daily links posts didn't lend themselves to "likes" or replies because doubtless people would open them and start clicking links and reading articles. He was so good at finding them that you could spend hours and never reach the bottom of the page where that little "like" button resides. I do still feel that we should have shown more overt appreciation to him.

In that light, I'll say thanks to all the admins here who do a lot behind the scenes to keep this place rolling. I'm sure most of us underestimate the care and feeding required to keep this great fan resource running.

 

[Flacusian]

HoustonCuse started the thoughtful campaign to give Orangeyes’ posts more “likes” the day after he had his final major surgery (from which he never regained full consciousness). Sadly, Dan died without seeing the love expressed in that effort. His family saw it… and appreciated it. But Dan himself never saw it.

There’s a lesson here that goes far beyond “likes” on a message board from people trying to thank someone who, sadly, didn’t always feel appreciated when it would have meant something to him. (Trust me, Dan occasionally reflected on the low level of response his posts received… and wondered whether it was worth his time to do it).

I am sure Dan knew that Tomcat loved him, but I am not so sure about the rest of us (and I include myself here).

Tell people in your life (not specifically on this forum) you love them… and appreciate them…. and value them…. when they can hear you say it. Eulogies are lovely…..but they are never heard by the person who is being thanked and honored in them.

Right on target CTO. Looking back I am glad that I took the time to tell Dan how much I appreciated his labor of love on this forum. He would always thank me for noticing. Imagine that... him thanking me. He is without doubt the most impactful poster to ever have been a member of this board.

Sep 28, 2013.

 

[llandz]

I am so glad that I started sending Dan personal messages. At first I felt funny since I hardly knew him, but the fact that my son has crohn's disease which is very related to Dan's issues and my mom, who was at that time in the hospital, had issues similar to some of Dan's made me reach out to him. I then found out that he knew Peggy (Bballbeadle) who I got to know over the past 2 years. Of course I know he knew Joyce. But he knew he had another syracusefan friend in his last couple of months. Joyce, thanks for pointing that out to me. I never really looked at it that way. It shows that even if reaching out to someone in difficult times feels funny or awkward to do, it often is not. I did it, but didn't really learn that it was a good lesson until reading this.

 

[Ghost]

If it were a reprimand, I included myself among the reprimandees.

Dan frequently asked me ... whether it was worth his time to compile those aggregated posts every day. He thought hardly anyone was reading them,,, because among the 200-300 or so views, there were generally no responses. And hardly ever a "like"

Reading the out-pouring of love since Dan died, I could not help but remember those conversations.

Many of the people mourning Dan now... never acknowledged his contributions... or thanked him for them... or said they loved him... while he was here. That was my point... in discussing a larger truth... the need to appreciate people when they can know you appreciate them. It had nothing to do with message boards. It had to do with life... and the people in your life.

Maybe sometimes the truth hurts.

If likes were causing one of the most generous and awesome posters on this board agita - the system sucks.

 

[Trueblue25]

Just today while working at the new Dineen Law Building I overheard several workers talking about Dan's passing and how cool they thought he was. These are guys who clearly didn't know him personally, but must've tuned into his article or maybe even are on this board. They could've potentially helped build/place the statue too, i don't know I didn't get the chance to speak to them.

Though I never knew him personally, it hurts me that he didn't realize how important he was and how loved as well. He was not only important to his family, friends and us board members..but to his city as well.

He'll not only live on through the ernie davis statue but through the hearts of his city as well.

 

[swish7]

THAT'S your interpretation of CTO's post? Oh Lord

And you felt the need to post that in light of recent events?

I know? right? Wow.

My mom has been hanging on from her last stroke for the past year. She's been paralyzed on one side and unable to communicate in that time. CTO's message rings true, reach out and tell the ones you love that you love them. You never know when you won't have a chance to again. I can tell her I lover her til I'm blue in the face, but I won't ever again have the chance to hear her response.

The other day I was reflecting on people I've 'reconnected' with on facebook, after one of them, whom I was looking forward to meeting in person unexpectedly passed away. People whom at one point in time were the bestest of friends. You say goodbye to them at a birthday party one summer in 1979, a week later transfer into another school district, and 25 years later realize you haven't been their presence in that time. I bumped into some old college buddies at the F4 in Atlanta. People I hadn't seen since '93, and people I'll never see again. It's the downside of a rootless life.

I didn't read OE's links. It just took too much time. But he was a good guy, no question about that.

 

[CuseTroop]

Another life lesson that I've learned over the years... Always take pictures... Every time you are with friends, family, people you respect, get a picture... You never know when you wont get the change to get another one. I searched through every photo from my trip back home, and I dont have one picture of me and Dan...

My buddy Rudy is getting pretty old. Every time we hang out we get a picture together. Everytime we go on an adventure, I take pictures of him.

 

[rrlbees]

If likes were causing one of the most generous and awesome posters on this board agita - the system sucks.

I'm always in the minority but I think the like system is stupid. Especially the way many use them.

 

[JoeCollege]

Very well said. And Joyce I know everyone here appreciates you, your contributions to the board, the basketball program and the university. I love reading your stories about traveling to and from games and your encounters with the movers and shakers. I also know first had your generosity when it comes to sharing tickets. And I'll never forget the SU attire you sent my boys when they were born. So thank you.

What he said. And cto , you've been a friend since day 1. I recall one of the first board tailgates- you hosted it in L2 or whatever the small lot between the law school and the Dome is called. It was a blast and you were a great host. Thanks for that, for your generosity with tickets, for introducing me to John Mackey, for sundry other kindnesses. Last year at Fine Mess (where OE and I had a GREAT conversation, by the way, with PeteCalvin and I taking a major-league ribbing from Dan) was one of the highlights. I knew that you and I "knew" each other from brief conversations in the past, from this board and from other social media. But you'll never know how surprised and happy I was when at the Fine Mess, out of all the people in the CTO universe, ranging from Olympians to titans of industry, you called out my real name and gave me a big hug. I figured you had no clue who I was. YOU, Joyce, have probably the most similar impact and imprint to Dan of anyone on this board. You helped this board get its legs and have been a stalwart and dedicated mother to us all ever since. Thank you.