Last February, I was hiking with my dog up Waldo’s Canyon. As I stopped to rest on the edge of a cliff, I started to check the news. The first thing that I saw made me almost drop my phone. After reading the article, a phone call from my mother confirmed it, sealed it in stone. My friend Officer Barquist had passed away all of a sudden. I remember having a hard time breathing, my heart sank and my soul was crushed.
When I was in my later teen years, I worked a third shift job at a local gas station. Chance meetings are a curious thing, they are curious because they can happen at the oddest times in our lives.
It was a cool but warm summer night, a typical Michigan night where fireflies filled the night sky. I had finished all my tasks and had nothing left to do till about 4:00 am. An officer walked through the doors for coffee, I waved and said hi. Little did I realize that this man would have an everlasting impact on my life.
As the nights came and went, he and I would chat every night for a couple hours. I didn’t mind the lack of sleep and the sort of blissful daze that comes with working a third shift job. But those nights and chats with Officer Barquist quickly became the highlight of my night.
Officer Barquist was a tremendous man, he and I shared hundreds of stories together back at that gas station. He had given me advice countless times, he encouraged me to fulfill my dreams and goals. I always made special pizzas just for him, we called them the Barquist. One night I made him a pizza that had nothing but veggies on it. I remember he looked at me and said “What is this?” I smiled and replied “I need you to be around a long time, long enough to see me achieve my dreams.” He smiled and ate the pizza.
I kick myself and have a hard time shaking the guilt of not making it back to Michigan for his funeral. After his passing, I noticed that he was the uncle of one of my close friends. I had no clue. I should have realized it sooner because they both shared the same smile; they both had a smile that warmed up a room.
Such a small world, that he and I would become friends and to find out he is the uncle of a friend of mine, it is pretty crazy.
I remember the last chat he and I had together, the night before I moved away I drove up to that gas station, I knew he would be there tonight. Sure enough as I pulled up, he was in there reading the paper. I sat opposite of him and smiled, we talked for what seemed like forever.
I told him I was moving to Colorado for school, and I told him I will be back to visit with pictures and stories to share. He told me he shouldn’t do this, I wasn’t sure what he meant until his arms were open for a hug. He hugged me and said “I am going to miss you kid. I know you’ll do great things. Your parents raised you right. When you start appearing in papers, I will brag to people that I know you.” He smiled with a few tears that followed. I had touched his life just like he did mine, this moment is engraved in my mind, it sits forever and will never be forgotten.
Officer Barquist was a loving man, a great uncle and brother. He impacted so many lives. Allison (his niece) told me about the funeral and how so many people came to pay their respects. I was not surprised to learn of this, if he took those couple hours a night to impact my life, I had no doubt that he had impacted others. My last words to him were “I’ll be back, I will see you later.” I didn’t realize later would be so far away.
