Fairmont Toastmasters Club

[Tareq Hawwa]

Tareq Hawwa:
CTM#2 "Danny You Will Always Be Remembered" (Mar 30, 2005)

Speech Script:
Danny You Will Always Be Remembered


Danny was doughty as he approached his destiny.

Danny Araujo Died…

I was sitting alone in my hotel room at The Fairmont Empress Hotel reading my emails and then suddenly it fell like a rock. I read an email with the subject: “Passing Away of Danny Araujo”. I’m going to read for you what Tim Aubrey our Senior Vice President wrote in that email:

It is with deep regret and a sense of disbelief that I inform you of the passing of Danny Araujo.

Danny died suddenly and very unexpectedly at his home yesterday evening alongside family from heart failure.

Danny served the company loyally for 38 years, most recently in the position of Executive Director, Operations Analysis & Transitions. Throughout his career, he was a mentor to many Controllers and has made significant contributions within the finance and accounting area.

Danny was a friend to many and highly regarded for his knowledge of hotel accounting. His friendships, sense of humor, tremendous work ethic, and unwavering loyalty to the company served him well.

He will be deeply missed by all.

Tears fell from my eyes without any control. While sharing this with my wife she told me; “This is Life…” and I screamed; “No… Life is not fair…”

But calm down I said to myself. One way to pay tribute to Danny is to share with you all my newly found Toastmaster friends this moment. I wanted to share with you "how I think real friends must remember each other once distance keeps them apart"

I know that I’m not alone in this room that has to deal with departing friends. I don’t want to talk about death alone because there are many other instances when people depart each other. We all build relationships only to see them vanish when one of the parties leaves to another place. What comforts us is the fact that we can always remember these friends and most importantly learn from our experience with them how to be better people.

That fact that these people were called friends tells me that they made us comfortable with ourselves, they made us laugh, they contributed somehow to why feel good and proud of who we are and where we are now. This is the part that we should remember. Actually whether we like it or not, the changes they made in our lives will stay with us until the end of our time.

I believe that each one of us is the center of this universe for ourselves. If this is YOU, then imagine a smaller inner circle and larger outer circle around YOU. The inner circle includes your family members, your real friends and any thing else that YOU feel defines you. The outer circle includes everyone else and other material items that can be replaced.

The people in your inner circle must always be with you in order for you to achieve self-confidence and self-fulfillment. When they travel away for a short or long periods of time, you have to honor them in your heart and not necessary with outside display of words and actions.

We all have met a real friend or family member after a long period of time and we all felt really good during this meeting. We feel good because they remind us of the positive memories and make us feel comfortable.

We must always remember that if we honor someone in our hearts, people around us will feel it and our friends will know it and this relationship will never end.

Danny! No matter if you went on a business trip or you went on a long trip like the one you decided to take last week, I will always remember you and honor you in my heart and until I catch up with you and meet again, Farewell my Friend.