Friday 13 March 2009

Lost comrade.

So yesterday I woke up with 2 missed calls from college friend AJ and numerous msn alerts from Chris Key asking me to text him as soon as I read said messages. So I did, thinking that AJ had turned up in Stoke as a surprise or something. Chris called me back a few minutes later and reluctantly told me that the news was the complete opposite of anything I could possibly hope or even expect.

AJ, Chris and myself were all a part of The Media Massive 2006 – our graduating crew of media students at Worcester Tech. Among this crew were a few others, including our friend Kris Weaving. On the phone, Chris told me that he had passed away earlier in the morning. At first, it didn’t hit me, it was strange to even think of it – someone I knew so well passing away without even knowing he was unwell to start with. The call was brief and I immediately called AJ who knew more on the situation. He explained what had happened in a bit better detail, though I’m still a bit unclear on the full events, I’m sure a lot of people are.

It’s not my place to broadcast what happened over the net, so I’ll leave it at that, but I wanted to take a few moments to remember who Kris was to me and the rest of the Media Massive.

 

Kris Weaving

Kris Weaving was a legend. No doubt. A great friend, quiet but heard, reserved but funny. He loved comic books and all kinds of fantasy stuff, all of his movies in college were based on fantasy themes, giving him his ‘edge’ as an individual movie maker in the class. We all had our own thing that made us different in our own special way, this was Kris’. He was always there if you needed him, he always listened to you and gave good advice, he was also reliable and always wanted to help if you needed someone to take a part in a production. My best film production in college was The Funeral of Hearts – a romantic love story about 2 best friends and a female they both want. Kris played the part of Theo in the movie and was so good for the part, he was easy to direct and just pulled it off flawlessly. I really appreciated his input, without him the movie wouldn’t have been half as good. He also appeared in many other films made by the rest of the crew, including Sarah’s gangster movie “This Time Imperfect” where he played the leader of our gang. And this is where Kris’ credit should really be noted, because that’s what he was. If you knew our group and saw how it was motivated, how we interacted, Kris lead us quietly from the background and he had interlinking connections with every one of us, and for that reason we all have great memories of the time we spent with him.

Our own Romeo and Juliet

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Kris and Naomi got together in first year of college, it was obvious from day one that they were meant to be together. During the rest of the 2 year course we watched them fall in love, they very much became the Romeo and Juliet of our course, our crew, our circle. They were cute together and we all knew that despite uni coming up and all the hectic changes, they’d still be together, turns out we were right. It shows the power of love, what that kind of connection can really do, what it inspires and how much people will do to hold on to such a connection. They were a strong couple, and as I said before, we knew they were meant to be together. Personally, I thought they’d be married before long, a life together, and I don’t doubt they both thought the same thing too. It's important for all of us to be there for Nai and Kris' family now, so if they need anyone I hope they know they can count on me, along with AJ and many others.

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You know, it’s strange, I always used to write about love and death in my old Emo stories, songs, poems and scripts, but now something like this has really happened the difference between fiction and reality is very stark, and I feel rather stupid for playing with such subjects when I had no idea what it would really be like when something like this really happens. For that, I apologise to Naomi, Kris and his family too, I almost feel disrespectful by making them in the past – that probably sounds stupid.

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It’s hard to write something like this, because in all honesty it still doesn’t seem quite real. Kris really was one of the coolest and friendliest people I’ve ever met and I know he’ll be missed so much by many, many, many people. His work is inspiring. His personality made people happy. His kindness touched many of us. He was a fantastic friend and I prey that he is happy and comfortable wherever he is now, living out every dream he ever had. Wait for us man, the Media Massive will all be together again one day, and I look forward to seeing you then.

Rest in peace brother

Reno x

1 comment:

  1. I didn't know Kris, or you, but this was a touching, honest, piece of writing that appears to reach to the heart of your feelings for your friend.

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