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R.I.P. Louis Alten

Posted by cybertoad on 03/31/2011 in commentary |

Last week a friend of ours passed away after a tragic skiing accident. Louis had grown up skiing and was experienced, it was simply a freak accident with no explanation. No blame to be had by anyone.

It has made me more contemplative than usual though. He was only 39, 6 months younger than my husband. He was talented engineer, spoke 4 languages, loved life, always had a genuine smile on his face, was an extremely devoted family man, husband and father to three beautiful children. I could go on and on but I think this memorial page from his loved ones sums it up better.

Now, we weren’t the closest friend Louis had – we saw each other a few times a year – last we saw him was at our holiday party in December – but when we did, he was so warm and easy to talk to. Kenny met him when he interviewed for his first job after college and I met him at that same company just a week or two after meeting Kenny back in 1997. We knew Louis as the thoughtful bachelor who got the girls with his charm but then we also saw him transform into something even better as he fell in love, get married and become an amazing father and husband.

When I first heard about the accident the connection was fuzzy so we just heard “accident”. When it was clarified that it was a skiing accident it did not lessen the grief but it did make me feel a little better. I know, it sounds so cliche but it gave me comfort to know it was not a car accident but that he died doing something he loved.

To add to the story, our other dear friend was with him and frantically tried to save him, providing CPR and such but Louis never came back. His injuries were too massive. John did everything he could and we are supporting him as well.

I know you don’t know either of these people but if you are so inclined, please keep both Louis’ family in your thoughts as they grieve the loss of their husband, father, son, brother. Also, keep John in your thoughts as he struggles with the emotions from that tragic day.

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