Say a Prayer for Henri Naccache
I just found out this evening that a colleague of several years, Henri Naccache, has been diagnosed with cancer.
Apparently a few months ago, Henri became ill and was losing weight. Though the initial diagnosis was ulcers, he was in a lot of pain, and in the past week several hospital visits have confirmed cancer in the stomach, and potentially in the liver and pancreas. What a stunner. Even more of an eye-opener is that he’s a year younger than me. It’s now time to stop and think.
Henri and I both were contractors with the Cisco Networking Academy program in the early 2000’s, and worked fairly closely on a few projects. When my team split off into the Global Learning Network, Henri and several of his then-Unicon brethren were assigned to the Cisco Learning Institute’s projects, and we gradually lost touch over the past few years. I had heard he had moved to Seattle (actually Bellingham) and that he was married with a young family, but those were just quick catch-up conversations with friends-of-friends.
But I still feel a bit lousy about the situation. We weren’t really close friends, but I could have done a better job of staying in touch. I think we all could have. In the world of the technology worker, where a great portion of our communication is virtual, it still helps to have actual conversations, even about the most trivial things. Especially memorable are the talks, not about project deliverables, which are forgotten as soon as the next deadline appears on the horizon, but the personal interactions which are the most rewarding.
Here are some nuggets from conversations with Henri:
- An avid motorcyclist, Henri believes that the optimal temperature for riding in Phoenix is 92 degrees – the heat cancels out the “wind chill” making it quite comfortable. I also learning everything I know about Joe Rocket motorcycle gear from Henri.
- Once riding home on the 202 Red Mountain Hwy – Henri’s Oakley prescription glasses (which we both favored) fell out of his backpack and were crushed in the car pool lane.
- His wedding band is made of titanium, which has a distinctive “ting” sound when spun on a Formica conference room table.
- He collects and restores old arcade cabinet games and pinball machines, and told me about the huge Ebay market for these things. This was pre-Craig’s List, which only could have helped. However, this was also pre-child, so maybe he’s doesn’t have the time any longer. I’ll be sure to ask.
- When discussing someone else’s contributions to a Calendar portlet (in Java), Henri never said a bad word. He merely held his arm just above waist level, indicating the length of the offending code when printed out. Then he indicated the “proper” code’s length was about three inches.
- I was fascinated by his photos and descriptions from his trip to Lebanon in 2003 or 2004. After all, there was a war going on, and I didn’t even know at the time that he was from there. Amazing stuff.
The day I started this site – all of six days ago – was the day Henri first went to the hospital. My world hasn’t changed all that much since then. But the world of Henri and his family has been rocked to the core. My goals were to get healthier, and live well. Simple goals with a non-chalant attitude. In the coming months, I sure hope Henri can meet these goals and accomplish them
Henri and his wife Jill have set up a site to help distribute updates and information to family and friends – here’s the link: http://henrisblog.nidal.com/blogs/
Although those that know me would be surprised to hear me say it, please say a prayer for Henri and for a speedy and complete recovery. He’s one of the good guys.
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