Great Life!

These are the words from a sticker found on the computer of a friend who recently passed away. He lived his life in such a way that it made you want to be a better person. This was a gift to those of us who had the privilege of meeting Mark Keesecker. If you had never met my friend, let me tell you about the type of guy that I knew him to be; the type of guy who traveled 2 hours or so to watch about an hour of a nephew’s ballgame, the guy who always responded promptly to emails and voice messages, the guy who looked like he stepped out of a page of GQ Magazine…yet oozed with humility, the guy who got the most awards in his career…yet loved nothing more than passing the accolades on to his coworkers, the guy who always made you feel like you were the most important person in his day when you had even minor contact with him (just the fact that I am writing about him only having brief contact with him is proof of this). He was the guy with the great sense of humor who once told my wife that they were moving in 100 single-wide trailers across the street from our new house when they were actually building another neighborhood with homes similar to or larger than ours just to get her reaction. Mark was the basic all-around “great guy” who lived (on purpose) a “great life”.

The loss is tragic and almost unbearable to our entire neighborhood. A testament to this fact is how long it has taken me to blog about this event. He was found on April 19, 2007 at the bottom of a 50 foot embankment where he had crashed his jeep. This was a freak accident to say the least, and a devastating blow to the entire real estate community. Yes, Mark was a realtor and not only was he a realtor, but he was the best. How do I know? Because he wasn’t even “my” realtor (never made a penny off of me and my wife) yet he served us as though we had bought a 5 million dollar home off of him. He was available to us when we had “new home owner” questions. Mark went above and beyond what was expected. He regularly sent birthday, anniversary, and Christmas cards to those who bought a house from him. He also filled a bucket with cleaning supplies and “new home” items as a house warming gift for many (if not all) of those who bought homes from him. He gave freely of his time, talents and treasures and everyone noticed.

The loss has actually made me and many who knew him reevaluate our lives. “GREAT LIFE” was his mantra. He woke up every morning just looking for that “greatness” about life in everyone he met…..even those of us he met who had plenty of “not-so-great” things in our lives. If he couldn’t find it in us, he would make us great with his actions toward us. He had a great life because he lived it serving others. It didn’t matter who you were, he just loved and served you. The challenge given at Mark’s funeral by his brother Matt was to carry on that selfless serving of others. I, for one, have vowed not to let the impact of Mark’s legacy die with him. There are some immediate things that we are doing to honor his memory in our neighborhood. However, I am challenged more to do as Mark did (as Jesus did) and give my life in service to others. Some might say that I have done this to some extent, but I have not “in my own eyes” given as freely to others as I could have. I will change. I have been changed by an example of one imperfect, human man. So whenever we think our actions on a daily basis do not matter, may we think of Mark and his actions to those of us who knew and loved him. We can change the world we live in, if we will simply make the effort and truly care about other people more than ourselves. And that is what I think Mark had in mind when he challenged himself daily to live a GREAT LIFE! Mark’s best friend read from Philippians 2 at the funeral and it was very appropriate: “let your attitude be like that of Christ Jesus”…….and Mark’s attitude was just like that every time I had any contact with him.

Mark, I will miss you. But I will not let the things you taught me slip away. I vow to love God by loving others! Thank you for the challenge and example of your life that was captured perfectly by the quote, “What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.” –Albert Pine.

Great life, my friend, GREAT LIFE!!!