Cheers to Alan from McAllen

 Hello everyone.

Sorry for the long gap between posts. We had a busy, unusual and at times difficult summer. Adrianne lost her dad on July 30th. The kids lost their grandpa. I lost my father-in-law and a good friend. 

He was two weeks shy of his 79th birthday.

Here is a website that pays tribute to Alan, with tons of photos. 

The family was kind enough to ask me to say a few words at the service. Here is my eulogy.

I’m honored that Diana asked me to say a few words about my father-in-law, Alan. Before I speak about Alan… Diana, we’re so sorry for your loss. Thank you for all the hard work you put in taking care of Alan over these difficult months.

 

I’m Seth. About 20 years ago, a beautiful young girl started working in my office, so I changed where I parked, so I had an excuse to walk by her desk four times a day. Now, today, I’m happy to say Adrianne and I have a beautiful family, Evey is 16 and Boyd is 11, and we’ve been part of the Weibel family ever since.

 

I remember the first time I met Alan, was at the Holidome in Lawrence. The Holidome is a fancy way of saying ‘Holiday Inn with an indoor pool.’ I was nervous. Adrianne told me I’d love her dad, but I was intimidated to meet him… his work as a private investigator seemed daunting. This guy was probably going to size me up pretty quick, and did he already do a background check on me and if so, what did he find?

 

Turns out, Adrianne was right. We became friends instantly. How often do we make new friends in everyday life? And I met a friend, a father-in-law, a grandpa and eventually even my dad that day. 

 

I still remember the day I called him to ask for permission to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. I was so nervous! I remember exactly where I was sitting, down to the couch cushion. I knew Alan knew something was up for me to call him, and when I told him the reason for my call, and asked for his blessing, he said, “Well, Seth, haha… I think that sounds wonderful.”

 

How lucky was I to have a man like Alan on the other end of that call? I think any married man in this room knows what I mean … Alan was a great father-in-law. So kind, laid-back. I feel like he started most of his stories to me like that. “Well, Seth… haha…” And buckle up because he was such a great storyteller. He was full of great one-liners. 

 

We found some old letters from him recently… they were long, written on rice paper. I didn’t think I’d read the whole thing… but it sucked me in. I laughed out loud multiple time. he was writing about the small town where he lived. He said the town was so small, they didn’t even have a town drunk… they all had to take turns.

 

Alan lived an amazing life, from his time in the Peace Corps, to his time in the Army, stationed in Germany, to his travels around Mexico. Diana found his paperwork for the Veteran’s cemetery, he filled it out ten years ago. He wrote his own message on his headstone: life’s journey is without a map. Well said.

 

I think about Alan and I think of all the things he did, the things he saw, the various places he lived, the horses he owned. He equal was part Indiana Jones, MacGyver and Magnum, P.I. He was an adventurer. He was on a quest to meet everyone and learn about their stories. That’s a rare thing about a great storyteller … many just want to tell stories. Alan also wanted to hear stories.

 

And I have to tell you that Alan was a tremendous grandfather. He loved Evey and Boyd so much! Once the kids came along, we’d see Alan and Di much more often. We’d visit, they’d visit. Evey gave Boyd the nickname Bubba when he was a baby. That was the only name Alan ever used for Boyd, I think he was both loyal to Evey’s nickname, and liked that he had a nickname for Boyd that no one else was using. It always made me feel good to hear Alan ask, “How is Evey and Bubba doing?”

 

I want to thank Alan for the many bottles of tequila over the years. That was a regular thoughtful gift he’d give me, whenever he traveled to Mexico, he bring me back a bottle of Maestro blue. And whenever we were together, whether we were watching football, the Jayhawks or the NBA playoffs, he was great at sneaking in a tequila shot at halftime. “Seth, if the Jayhawks are winning at halftime, we better do a shot to keep it going.” The Jayhawks are losing at halftime. “Seth, we better do a shot of tequila to rally the Jayhawks!”

 

I told Aaron this the other day… there was a strange coincidence about 15 years ago, we lost my dad, and Adrianne lost both of her grandpas, within about 10 days of each other. I’m so grateful I had Alan as a father figure in my life, to fill that void, over these last 15 years.

 

I hope that after we all move along from here, you’ll raise a shot of tequila and do a cheers to a wonderful man, Alan from McAllen.