Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

There was a young man.
My nephew.
Beautiful.
Tall.
Strong.
Compassionate.
Twenty years old.
Oldest of 7 children.
Worked hard.
Was in love.
Happy.

Died in his sleep.

While the thought, "The injustice of it all!" may run through some minds... perhaps not. There were a number of happy memories that were made just before his passing. Maybe, that was a way of providing some future solace...

His obituary:

Marvin Cristian Diez
BURLINGTON - Our beloved son and brother, Marvin Cristian Diez died unexpectedly at home on October 22, 2008. Cristian was born in Seattle, Washington, and moved with our family to North Carolina a few years ago. He was two months shy of his 21st birthday.
His parents, Osvaldo and Jenny Diez survive him. Cristian is the oldest of six brothers and sisters: Lucas, Sophia, Raquel, Isaac, Lillia, and Victor. Cristian was a great brother. Cristian is survived by his pet cat-Hickory that has been with Cristian since the age of eight. It was so cute that Hickory would allow Cristian to drape him around his neck while he read.
Marvin Cristian was named after both of his grandfathers, two very strong kind men. What was so wonderful about our son/ brother was that he was so kind and loving...he would never hurt another soul or be mean to anybody or anything. Cristian excelled at everything he tried and then moved on to the next adventure and experience.
Some of his wonderful accomplishments: C taught himself to play the piano at age eight (two boogie woogie songs and he was done), taught himself to dissect and repair computers since age three, taught himself to drive and bought a bright red Firebird the day before he had his license, bought a shotgun at age 19 - shot off 600 rounds at the gun range and sold it at the pawnshop in one afternoon, rescued a kitten stranded in the warehouse where he and his brother worked, picked up a patient walking along the road by ARMC and gave the elderly man a ride home. C worked for The Tent Rental Company for three years and was able to travel throughout the Southeast Region with work, he was proud of doing a job well done. He was a very hard worker like his father and brother. He also worked at Southbound Sandwich Works for a year and a half during his senior year at Walter M. Williams High School. Cristian graduated from WMW High School in June 2007 and had plans to attend college with his brother this winter.
Cristian learned Karate (purple belt), Jujitsu, and Judo at the Burlington Martial Arts Center and within a seven-month period earned a lot of first place trophies at competitions. Cristian was known as "Hercules" (he could bench press 330 pounds), "Caramelized Goodness," "Batista" (the wrestler) and "Bub" or "Bubba" from his brother Lucas. He loved horror movies, the gorier the better, which his mom tempered with stupid funny movies like "Hot Rod" and "Sasquatch Gang." He made heads swivel in his direction wherever he went, he was so big and strong and handsome. When Cristian entered a space, everyone could feel his tremendous presence. Cristian made us as his family want to improve and enjoy life to its fullest.
Cristian loved his freedom and lived life to the limit and lived it gloriously. We were so proud of him and the example he was to everyone that he met. We love him and will miss him greatly. Cristian leaves a huge hole in our family. He was grateful for any kindness shown him and has moved on to the next great adventure and experience: "That's what's up!"