Eric Ray Eidsness

February 27, 1971 – March 8, 2008

Eric touched so many people. Last night, his sister Solveig was putting her daughter Skyler to bed, and I heard way down the hall, Solveig say “You need to go to bed sweetie because tomorrow is going to be a big day. We’re going to honor Uncle Eric.” And Skyler said, “Can I go?”

Eric was my best friend. I don’t know exactly how long I’ve known him, or when we first met, but I do remember him from kindergarten. And I know that we were already tight then. I moved away from Juneau 12 years ago, and I never mention Eric to people. No, his official title is My Best Friend Eric, or Eric, My Best Friend. “Oh man, one time My Best Friend Eric did this or that…, you should have been there!” Some people who still have never met him even know him as Izy, as that’s the nickname he got sometime in middle school, I think. I remember being kind of jealous then that he had a cool nickname and I didn’t… But, he was always my best friend, Izy. There are few constants in life, but a few for me have always been: grass is green, the sky is blue, and Eric Eidsness is My Best Friend. There was never any doubt ever, it was just so easy to say. And I’m extremely lucky and honored that we would say to people that I was his best friend.

Anybody who ever met him would tell you about his giggle. It was positively INFECTIOUS and nobody who ever heard it was unaffected by it. At one point, I worked at UPS and he was working right around the corner at Wings. I might be having a bad day and he would stop by, or I’d visit him at Wings at the end of the day, and it was simply “goodbye sour mood, Eric’s giggle is here!” One time, my sister and Eric and I were in her truck driving, and something happened to make Eric laugh so hard he just deflated into me. His laugh was as funny as whatever had caused it, and my sister still mentions that time to me as one of her defining Eric moments.

Eric was such a character. And he possessed character in abundance. He was rock solid. If you asked him for a favor, he’d do it if he could. If he was able to and had the means, he was there for you. But more importantly, he wouldn’t tell you that he could if he knew he couldn’t. He was a straight shooter who only told you the truth, never what you WANTED to hear. If Eric said something, you KNEW what he was saying was the real deal. I like to use what I call The Window when I describe people. Some people have an agenda, or don’t want to show their hand, or maybe they have something to hide. Those people have what I call a murky window, because you can’t see them very well through that murky window. Eric knew who he was and wasn’t embarrassed or ashamed about it – his window was clean and crystal clear. You always saw all of him and not just that version of him that he allowed you to see.

I admired Eric. I admired him because he possessed qualities that I didn’t. One of which was that Eric was brave. I remember a camping trip we took in SD. We were 15 or 16 and with a group of Eric’s friends. We were at a campground at Palisades State Park and we did a lot of swimming in the waters around there. We were jumping off of the rocks into the water and one day it was decided that we were all going to jump from The Bridge. It was a big jump. I think it may be the biggest jump I’ve done to this day. We all desperately wanted to jump off of it, to earn that badge of courage, but nobody wanted to go first. Well it was Eric who went first. In fact, quite often, it was Eric who went first. I wish now that I’d carried a camera with me when we were kids. I could have taken MANY pictures of him going first into a thicket of bushes or into a dark place with a stick as a sword and his jacket wrapped around his arm for a shield against whatever hydra or mythical creature we were about to face. In bear country no less. But he still never had a problem taking that lead position. He was my guiding light. I would have followed him anywhere.

Eric was very outgoing as well. When I think back to grade school I marvel at how quickly Eric made friends with all the popular kids. He’d tell me about all the cool things they’d done, and I’d get excited about the stories he told me. “Wow, I’ve heard of those guys, but I’ve never met them. You’re awesome!” And before I knew it, he’d invite me to tag along, and I’d be accepted as part of the group because HEY! if you’re a friend of Eric’s, well geez, you’re a friend of mine!

And that was Eric. Someone I admired. Somebody I trusted. Somebody I could count on. Absolutely. My Best Friend. Absolutely.

So thank you Eric, for having walked this planet for the limited time that you did, because my life is better for it.

And thank you, Denny and Tim, for having given him to us.

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