Dear Gail and Family,
I took a day off from my current career, teaching high school science, to come down to Denver for the Memorial Service to honor my friend Chips and , perhaps to say hello to you. The service was everything I could have hoped for and gave me a chance to reflect on my long friendship with Chips and see him through others eyes as well. But, I didn't get a chance to see you, so I wanted to share a few thoughts in hopes that perhaps I could lend yet another perspective on that wonderful man and what he meant to me.
When I first met Chips, I was a young punk, just out of graduate school with absolutely no vision or idea of what to do next with my life. Chips, of course was dressed in a corduroy jacket, plaid shirt and as I remember, a plaid tie to go with it, I now know, all from Goodwill! I immediately loved the guy, took the job at the MLRB and we hit it off from the beginning. Before I knew it he had me doing things I'd never dreamed I could do, his confidence in me allowed me (or forced me) to grow in the job and mature as a person. Sometime in the course of that job he said, "Massey, you're never going to really succeed unless you go to law school", a concept which had NEVER even occurred to me. I dismissed it, because of course, we all hated the lawyers we had to deal with on the job, but he kept at it, and I kept thinking about it. After 3 years of pestering by Chips, and ultimately joined in by Monte, I applied, was accepted, completed law school (DU) and had a wonderfully productive career. As you may recall, I was able to retire and sail around the world with my family for 4 years. We've now settled in Steamboat Springs where I've taken a second career as a high school science teacher and I'm loving every minute of it.
But, this isn't about me, its about Chips. I dare say no one, except perhaps my own father, had such a profound impact on my life as Chips. He took an interest in me when I most needed it, gave me encouragement and ultimately a vision which I simply didn't have. He did it unselfishly and for no other reason than, that is just what you do for a friend. He thrived on the success and accomplishments of his friends and had an impact on everyone he touched. As our lives went different directions, our encounters became less frequent, but every time I needed advice, help, encouragement, or just some friendship, he was always there, as if we'd just seen each other the week before. When I started my own firm, he cheered me on and gave me some advice. When I then decided to bag it all, and buy a sailboat to take my family out on the sea, no one was a bigger fan. And finally, when I returned, he treated me like a hero, introduced me to more of his cadre of friends as though I'd just conquered the world. We had several discussions comparing my sailboat to his "nut farm in the sea", it truly was a common dream of sorts. I did have the rare chance to get him to settle down at lunch a few years ago and tell him just how important he'd been in my life. I'm grateful to have had that chance and want to thank you as well. Chips was everything everyone said about him last week, and then some. To me, he was simply a wonderful friend that had a profound and lasting impact on my life. To paraphrase some lyrics I keep hearing in my head, "He was a friend to me when I needed one, if it wasn't for him I don't know what I'd have done, he gave me something that was missing in me". I hope you don't mind if I've shared some of my story with others, last week in my chemistry class I was telling some students that in everyone's life there will be someone they should remember, "You know, in my life there was this guy named Chips . . ." He was truly the epitome of a genuine friend.
I wish you all the best, "it is what it is" (yes i've heard that before as well), cherish his memory and move on. I do hope that if you are ever up in the Steamboat area, you will look me up, you will be as welcome at my door and I've always been at yours.
Take care
Dean Massey
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