About Lugnut -- Patrick Malone

I first stumbled across this thread back in early May, and read through it for a couple of days before posting on May 5th.
Although I haven't posted much since then, I have continued to read it with a sense of joy, and dread, at the same time.
I know that you all helped Patrick a lot as he continued to fight this awful disease, in a very Public Forum, with grace, humour and courage.
However, he also helped all of us who have not had the horrifying experience of having to watch a loved one die slowly like that. It will help us deal with that awful reality should we ever be confronted with it personally. This thread will exist here for a long time, and can be used as an inspirational tool to convince similarly afflicted people and their loved ones that life should be lived to its fullest until your time runs out.

Barb, you have my sympathies for the loss of Patrick. Things will be busy around you for a while I expect. But, if you ever feel lonely, you know now that some support, friends and advice are as close as your computer keyboard.

I have a few comments that I would like to discuss after reading Davt’s post.

First off, keeping Pat alive in our souls is keeping the Lugnut in each of us active in our lives. Dav, you did this on your walk, and you came home alive. What this experience has taught us is to be honest, open and loving of strangers. These strangers become friends as soon as we extend our hand to them,

We have all shared an experience here, and it has been good. The experience appears to outsiders as death, this is what we see in the obituary, but we have learned this experience is in actuality life. Our time on earth is ours to share in any way we wish, this group at Audiogon have learned to share life as love and honesty. From this experience we hopefully have changed our perspective. That is the Lugnut legacy, and for me what I carry away from this and some other experiences I’ve had in my life is we are in this together, and every one of us needs the love of others to have the most fulfilling experience possible. Imagine how sad and lonely Pat’s death would have been without this community. Now put yourself in Pat’s place, will you be alone or will you have love surrounding you at your passing?

We need each other, not just when we a sick, but every day. Pat had wished for this thread to continue because he was the benefactor of the love shared. But really, weren’t we all the benefactors? My life was forever altered when I had my heart attack, and I have found the community expressed here ar Audiogon in my life outside Audiogon. I have been able to share my lessons with many people, I even wrote a book (not published… yet) to help others learn. I try and live Lugnut’s lessons with every person I meet. My comment is to keep Pat alive we must expand the affected group beyond just Audiogon. If we do not, then the lesson will slowly fade into history, and nothing we have learned will have been carried forward into our futures. This is not acceptable in my view.

We are the luckiest people ever, we were allowed to share the hardest part of life and we grew. Pat will live as he lived today on Dav’s walk. If we want to memorialize Pat and Barb’s gift to us than all we need to do is love everyone you meet. Share random acts of kindness everyday. (I can not express how powerful random acts of kindness are.) Love will spawn love in the same fashion hate spawns hate. But love trumps hate every time, hate will fail to exist if we all love one another. We were created to share this experience together and to help one another everyday. Help is not one day or one thread at an audio web site. Help is loving everyone we meet, and extend our souls to another.

For the moment that is enough from me. I have set-up my Empire turntable from 1972 with the AI preamp Pat gave to me, and yes Neil Young (‘70’s style) will play tomorrow afternoon, despite a frozen cartridge that sounds like $#&^.

God bless you all, I have grown to love so many of you through this incredible thread.

I love you Pat.

Barb,

My thoughts are with you. Though we only briefly met, I know I will always remember Patrick, ant the night we all shared together here in San Francisco.

He was a good man.

When I finally find myself fly fishing, I'll be thinking of Lugnut.

-Rob Thomas

CEREMONY OF COMMITTMENT
NOVEMBER 12, 2005 2 PM

Today we laid Pat at the altar of our old stone church - to honor him and to present him to the Lord. Our family gathered around to memoralize him with scripture, prayer, song and stories that lasted about one hour. A friends 10 year old daughter played "Amazing Grace" on the guitar, we sang "In the Garden" and we ended with Eva Cassidy's Fields of Gold."

In was chilly but sunny autumn day and the whole world just seemed to stop. So we all looked up and said thanks while the heavens opened to receive Pat.

Thank you my friends. Barb

PS - The puppy will be named after Pat's grandmother.
"Stella Grace" I will call her "Gracie"

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Thank you so much, Barb. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Reading this thread, being with you--all of you--is a daily gift for us.

Give a kiss to Gracie, and we want to see you soon.

Love,
Gina & Howard