Missing Jake

The title of the post immediately before mine was exactly the thoughts running through my head this morning.

Jake and I went to Conrad Grebel together, and were part of the infamous Secret service (as described below by Graham).

One quirk of Jake was his passion....for lego. Yes. Often I would come across stories concerning lego, and would forward them to him. Without fail, he would respond about the story's coolness. these last couple years, he added his desire to get Stella hooked onto lego as an addendum to lego's all around cool-ness.

Today, I ran across a similary story about a lego artist, and instantly thought of Jake.

A few Jake things that I miss

A couple of years ago, while my sister, Elizabeth, was in town visiting me, she and I had lunch with Jake. They hadn't met before, and even though the lunch was somewhat spur of the moment Jake said we should go somewhere really nice, like Janet Lynn's – his treat. I wouldn't let him spend that much on us, so we compromised by going to Solé, which turned out to be full when we got there. We ended up at Ethel's, our usual lunch venue. Jake was so disappointed to be settling for Ethel's that day, but he still insisted on paying. When we thanked him, and said that he didn't have to be so generous, he said it was his privilege to have lunch with us. What I remember clearly about Jake in that moment in particular is the complete sincerity that was evident in the compliment and in his smile. That sincerity was consistently part of his character.
Elizabeth says she remembers that lunch very well because of how kind Jake was and because of his great, stripey scarf. :)
I bought a bike on Jake's recommendation, a wonderful bike of a quality that is in no way warranted given my lack of talent and dedication where biking is concerned. Recently, I considered selling it and downgrading to a lesser bike, but I couldn't stop thinking that Jake would be disappointed when I told him. He was one of the few people I've known who would actively, and always genially, discourage me from settling for less than he thought I deserved. He really did appreciate the good things in life. Unselfishly, he wanted them for everyone.
One more small thing I miss: every time I got a response from Jake over email or chat that read, "Roger that," it made me smile a little. Maybe there are other people who do that, but to me, it was totally a Jake thing to say.
____________________________________________
From: Jacob Sauer
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 10:13 AM
To: Katie McGuane
Subject: RE:

Roger that thanks.


Jacob Sauer
Patent Agent Trainee
Research In Motion
mailto:jsauer@rim.com
P: 519.888.7465x2438
F: 519.883.4935