PM Received June 26, 2022 from Wikkidpissah.
Subject: grief
My reply: Thanks Dale. I need some help. For sure. This message means a whole hell of a lot to me. Maybe we can set aside some time to talk this week?
His reply:
I posted this because even though I know the people posting in here knew what kind of person Dale was, perhaps others never saw this side. Between the legendary story-telling, brilliant basketball brain, fabulous foodie and musical mastermind resided a man who just simply cared about others with a level of compassion not widely seen or displayed.
Dale saw a person - a person he NEVER MET - struggling and reached out to him. Threw him a lifeline and a path to share the emotional pain and struggles that were weighing him down. In another post, I'm going to share the questionnaire he sent to me. If
@geewill or any of you think this is a betrayal of Dale's privacy, I won't do it, but I think it's something all of us could appreciate. I spent a couple of hours filling it out. It helped me get some feelings off my chest and I felt better after I hit "Send".
The detailed reply I got from Dale has been read and will be re-read a million times, so long as I am breathing. I don't have the words to convey how much better I felt after reading his email back to me. The overwhelming grief that I felt for weeks seemed to vanish in an instant. I would have paid handsomely for a 'professional therapist' to make that go away. I would have taken any drug out there to alleviate the anguish I felt. Dale's emails and interactions with me last week extinguished the agony and he didn't want anything in return. Though I don't think that's entirely true.
He didn't say it, but I know what he would say if I pushed the issue of compensation for his time - "GM, go out and help somebody else. Find somebody else 'unhinged' or hurting and try to make them feel better". I will, Dale. I promise.