Bryan Hegedus

When Bryan was about 8 years old a very astute friend of mine and Bryan?s always said, ?When you look up the word ?boy,? in the dictionary you will undoubtedly see a picture of Bryan.?As his grew up his picture would be next to many more words, way too many to stand here and talk about, but let me pick a few;COURAGEOUS the essence of courage is finding the strength and will to do what you know you should do even though you may be afraid. Bryan developed that strength very early when at the age of one month, he had a cleft palate repair, I thought then and I know now it was the onset of the strength that he called on each time he needed it.LOYAL Loyalty means caring in a serious way about your relationships with others and being willing to show it through your actions. When the familiar smell of either Grandma?s or Mom?s sauce filled the kitchen, Bryan would always say, okay Mom how many chairs do you need me to bring up for dinner, he never missed a family dinner. His parents always and I mean always came first. And yet he always found time for his friends. For a minute I regretted that Bryan did not have a brother or a sister but as early and as often as I heard him called ?Bro,? that regret never materialized.PROTECTOR When Bryan was anywhere near you all your fears just magically disappeared. Of course he was physically strong but it was more than that, he knew how to read your mind and give you whatever it was you needed, a hug, an encouraging word, a kick in the butt, some information or facts that would help make the situation better. ARTICULATE Those of us who were fortunate to have Bryan in our lives will all agree, DO NOT try to have a discussion with him if you did not have all of your facts together. Who knows how he knew so much about so many different subjects but he just did. I remember trying to prepare him for the speech he gave at his eight grade graduation and him saying ?Don?t worry Mom I will make you and Dad proud and notdoubt he got thundering applause. And when I offered my help for a job interview, he would politely listen because he recognized that is what I did all day at my job and when he called me after the interview and I asked when will you know if you got the job and his reply, I start tomorrow.If only I could have bottled his charm, no one would be un-employed. COMPASSION: Atticus Finch in ?To Kill a Mocking Bird,? gave his daughter some good advice, ? You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view?until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.? True compassion is less about emotion and more about action. When Bryan?s family or friends were sad he did something to help. Bryan had the habit of standing with others in their distress ,and all of us witnessed again an again it was returned to him.EMPATHTIC Being a good communicator is only half of it, what makes it unique and special is being able to listen. You could tell Bryan anything, he would not judge he would just be there. One of Bryan?s friends told his father he would not be standing there talking to him today if Bryan had not listened to him and convinced him, life is meant for living and people do care. He missed one important family function because one of his closest friends broke up with his girlfriend and Bryan wanted to be there to offer his support. Bryan had a natural kinship with the suffering of others.A LEADER One day I got a text message on my phone with a picture, and it was a coffee mug saying, ?The World?s Greatest Boss.? Many evenings over a bottle of ?7 Deadly Zins,? we would talk about how he could help Neslon, Victor, Juan, Zaida and Christle develop good work habits they could take with them to their next job, we would also talk about how much fun it usually was working at ?Wrap and Send.? When he took time off I would always ask who is going to take care of things and he would say, ?Don?t worry Mom, Nelson is there and I would just smile??.Bryan was the organizer in a Wednesday night pool league and every Thursday when I would ask him how the team did, it was never really about winning, sometimes he would not even play so one of his team members could get the chance to move up in their ranking.RESPONSIBLE Responsibility is the willingness to accept the consequences of your own actions and performance. It means accepting a task, doing it to the best of your ability and then standing by what you have done. ?You need a ride to the airport at what time, Mom? Okay I will be there at 6 AM and I never had to call a taxi?? If you asked him to help you move he was your guy, he taught me and some of his family and my friends a lot of what we needed to know about the world of technology. He told me when I finally got an ?I Phone that it would change my life and 1 hour after purchasing it, he did everything I needed to use it and now I have apps that would have taken me weeks to find, He was your all time go to guy who never said, ?No.?LOVING We show our love in many ways, one way is by being a friend, Bryan gave his friends, loyalty, trust and help in times of need, not to mention laughter, fun and an incredible sense of adventure.LOVE to his parents, I had the good fortune of having him physically close so he could express his love through all the virtues I described above, every parting would always end with, ?I love you Mom.? His Dad has the home Bryan and he always dreamed about, away from the hectic pace of City life, on a lake, with a pool , it was his refuge and he never let too much time go by to make that welcome trip to Clear Lake to be with his best friend, his DAD. All I wanted for Bryan was for him to feel fully and deeply loved, to learn to acknowledge his feelings and be well equipped to express them, to take responsibility for his actions, to value compassion and live it daily and to be HAPPY. There is very little doubt in my heart that I got everything I wanted.Because his life was brief, I have a hole in my heart, but each time one of you expresses your love and reminds me you are and always will be there for me, the hole gets a little smaller, and with all of your prayers I am able to continue to keep putting one foot in front of the other.One of the most beautiful truths of our faith is that life does not end at death. We believe that ?Life is changed not taken away.? In faith we know that those who have died remain with us in love. In our memories we recall all they mean to us. In hope we look forward lovingly to the day when we will be united with them.So Grandma and Grandpa Devine and Hegedus, and his so very dear Aunt Mary , he is now in yours and God?s loving hands, take good care of him?.. - - Love Mum Visitations: 6:00PM to 9:00PM on Sunday, August 30th, 2009 at Valente Marini Perata & Co. Funeral Directors (map/driving directions) Services: 7:00PM at Valente Marini Perata & Co. on Sunday, August 30th, 2009 (map/driving directions) 11:00AM at St. Teresa Church on Monday, August 31st, 2009 (map/driving directions) Cemetery: Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery1500 Mission RoadColma, CA 94014 (map/driving directions)

Bryan Hegedus

February 1, 1983 - August 25, 2009