How people impact us, even for a short time

Sometimes you never realize how people have impacted your life until they are no longer here...

My first day of the real world and I was scared to death. College was behind me and now it was time to put my learning to the test. My first "real job" was working for an oil company in the contracts department and I didn't have a clue what to expect.

I can't remember the first time I met him, but his first day was around the same time as mine. My first impression was of his huge smile and easy going nature. We were starting this new step in life at the same time, though coming from completely different worlds and ways of living. I kinda felt like we were in it together although we hardly knew each other. Those few months of working together, eating lunch together, barely scratching the surface of each other's lives were special.

I felt like I knew him personally, but then again I didn't know him at all. All I know is that he was a genuine person, a person who gave everyone a shot, a funny person and someone who always had a huge smile no matter how late he had been out the night before. He was real and that is what I appreciated most about him.

We didn't talk much after he left the Oil Company, only a few times on IM, but his death is hitting me deeper than I would have ever thought possible. Those few short months that he was in my life really meant something and I will always remember them. It makes me think how much you can impact someone's life and not really notice. Who will remember me when I'm gone? Someone I only spent a fraction of my life with?

RIP Jason Lantieri you will be missed by so many. May God be with your family and loved ones during this hard time. I will always remember you as a funny and crazy guy who took chances and was one of the most real people I knew.

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