Kurt Gentry

Gary was a friend for life! It never mattered how much time had passed between us, we were back to old times. The Clarks have been as good as real family ever gets. We love each and every one of them. It would be impossible to count the number of laughs we have shared. We enjoyed every moment together, whether we were out to dinner, home with kids or sleeping on the top deck of the house boat, it was always a Great Adventure! I can't ever remember a time that Gary didn't bring a smile to my face. He was a kind hearted friend, who taught me how to grab life.

One of my favorite memories of Gary was his new Parasail. He couldn't wait to get it to Lake Powell and give it a try. He was well versed on how it worked, but the rest of us, were completely lacking. Luckily, I was selected to be the first one to test it, why? Why not? We had no idea how much line to use, how fast the boat needed to go to get lift-off or whether there was enough beach to run on, before we would have to run on water. Most important, we didn't care. Gary had us all excited! Excited to spend a week at Powell acting like a bunch of teenagers and having the time of our lives.

Well, the line was too long, the beach was too short and lift off never happened. We did however find a briar patch, full of weeds, sticks and rocks, and yes I did end up getting drug through it. Scraped and bruised, we all laughed until our sides ached. Then we discovered we had made another mistake, We had the Parasail upside down. We never noticed the arrow pointing to which direction was to point UP. We laughed for years later about that day.

If we measured time by smiles and love, then Gary has lived to be a ripe old age. He would have helped the rest of us live a long and meaningful life, as well. Indeed time would have seemed endless, for he made all of us happy. But time is measured by passing hours and days. Unfortunately, this kind of time with Gary was too short, stopped half way through a full life. The good memories are still there, but the tears have stepped in the way for now. I pray we may all pass through the tears, much like the briar patch. I hope Laura and the girls will get over the pain and smile again. I suppose we will all find air in the future and sail once more, high above the surface of the water. And as we do, may we all remember our love for Gary,... and Laugh.

We will love you forever, farewell for now and keep a smile for us on the other side

Your Friend for Life
Kurt Gentry