The Mark List

This is a list of things to live by that I wrote based on my time hanging out with Mark. If you don't know who Mark is ask me later. We were friends before I came to Rice.

• Be nice to Everyone.
Mark was the kind of person that would do something nice for anyone, even if that person wasn't nice to him.

• Money is great, but be willing to give some to someone in need.
There was one time when I was riding with Mark over to the new house when he saw a car on the side of the road that seemed to be out of gas. He pulled over and asked the driver what was wrong. The driver told him that he was on his way to work and didn't have any money and ran out of gas. Mark immediately pulled out $5 and gave it to him. What I nice thing to do, I thought. We climbed back into Mark's truck and he noticed that he needed gas as well so we drove over to the gas station. When we got there, Mark pulled out $2 and was about to jump out of the truck. I asked him if that was all he was putting in. His response was "That's all I have". I offered to loan him $10. He looked down. "No, this is ALL I have" meaning that there wasn't any more money anywhere else. He had gaved almost all of the money that he had to help the man who was out of gas. Even if it put him in a similar situation. I payed for the gas.

• Be Spontaneous, You'll get where you are going eventually.
This is the one that I actively quote. You may have heard me say it before. Going anywhere with Mark was an adventure because we would spontaneously stop at about 4 different places before hand. We never got anywhere very fast. And it was great!

• Don't be scaried to say "I Love You"
Mark said "I love you" to everyone he considered a real friend. Me, Steve, my mom, My grandmother, the list goes on and on. He believed that people are way to reserved about saying it. (It always made Steve uncomfortable).

• These is no such thing as "Luck"
This is the only one that I may seem to not do for. I am always saying that I am lucky. But I think that Mark's definition of Luck is a tad bit different then mine. I believe that luck is the magic of life. It is the things in our lives that make us happy. Mark used the term to mean that if you had it everything was easy and you didn't have to work for anything. I do believe this. I do have to work at get things. And when I do, I am creating my own luck.

• Have Faith and Read you Bible
Mark and I used to go to church together, which was always an adventure because of the people that Mark knew at the church. We were always the last to leave. But Mark had tremendous faith. One day, I will post thr story of the fisherman and the coin. Truely inspiring.

• Laugh, even when you have no good reason to do so.
I have a funky laugh and Mark used to try to make me laugh to hear it. He would also make himself laugh so hard that most of the time he could not finish the jokes that he started without calming down first.

• Candles are your friend
I remember the mornings waking up and coming into the kitchen and there being 20 candles burning around the living room. It was gorgeous and smelled wonderful. Mark would sneek in before we got up and cleaned up and lit candles. What a great way to wake up.

• Don't be afraid to have fun
This is Mark's way of saying don't grow up. Alway keep that child's perspective on things. Children view the world with magic. Most adult lose that. But despite it all, Mark still had it.

• Salvage
This one was the theme of the year. My parents had an architectural salvage store that I worked at in Highschool. But I have always been a salvager. Mark reminded me just how fun reusing junk is.

• Remember that guys suck
You know the sex talk that you are suppose to get from your parents? Well, I didn't get it from my parents. I got it from Mark. He warned me that all guys my age just want sex and that you can't trust any of them. He was just worried about me.

• You can do it.
He wrote this on every letter he sent me. I would always tell me that I could do anything that I set my mind to. (This is coming from a guy who thought I was a genious because I knew what 3 X 3 was.) :-)